Best Bigos Hunters Stew Recipes

POLISH HUNTERS' STEW (BIGOS)

Steps:

• 1 Pour hot tap water over the dried mushrooms for 20-40 minutes, or until soft. Grind or crush the juniper berries and black peppercorns roughly. Cut the pork shoulder and sausages into 2-inch chunks. Drain the sauerkraut and set aside. Clean off any dirt from the mushrooms and cut them into large pieces; leave small ones whole. 2 Heat the bacon fat or vegetable oil in a large lidded pot for a minute or two. Brown the pork shoulder over medium-high heat. Do not crowd the pan. Set aside. 3 Put the onion and fresh cabbage into the pot and sauté for a few minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft. Sprinkle a little salt over them. If you are making the tomato-based version, add the tomato paste here. Once the cabbage and onions are soft, remove from pot and set aside. 4 Add the mushrooms and cook without any additional oil, stirring often, until they release their water. Once they do, sprinkle a little salt on the mushrooms. When the water is nearly all gone, add back the pork shoulder, the cabbage-and-onion mixture, and then everything else except the prunes. Add the beer, if using, or the tomato sauce if you're making the tomato-based version. Stir well to combine. 5 You should not have enough liquid to submerge everything. Bigos is a "dry" stew, the ingredients will give off more liquid as they cook. Bring to a simmer, cover pot and cook for at least 2 hours. 6 Bigos is better the longer it cooks, but you can eat it once the ham hock falls apart. Check at 2 hours, and then every 30 minutes. When the hock is tender, remove, pull off the meat and fat from the bones. Discard bones and fat, chop the meat roughly and return to the pot. Add the prunes and cook until they are tender, at least 30 more minutes. Serve simply, with rye bread and a beer. Add optional mustard or horseradish right before you eat it. Bigos improves with age;leftovers will be even better than the stew was on the first day.

HUNTERS' STEW FROM WARSAW (BIGOS WARSZAWSKI)

Steps:

• Brown pork in the hot bacon drippings.
• Place in a kettle and add sauerkraut, sausage, water and boullion cube.
• Cover and simmer until the pork is tender (1 to 1 1/2 hours).
• In the meantime, add the cabbage to a pot of boiling water, reduce heat, simmer 20 minutes and drain.
• Saute the bacon and onion until golden, add the flour mixed with water and stir until smooth.
• Stir into the pork- sauerkraut mixture and add the tomato paste, cabbage, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
• Simmer for 10 minutes, add wine and serve with steamed potatoes or crusty rye bread.

BIGOS (HUNTERS STEW)

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large pan and fry the onions until golden
• Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water and drain well, and mix with the onions. Add the tomatoes
• Shred the cabbage finely and mix in, add the stock stirring well
• In another pan brown the ribs or cubed pork belly then add to the cabbage mix, thickly slice the smoked sausage (kielbasa) then brown in the same pan as u did the ribs or pork belly, add to the cabbage mix
• Allow to simmer on a low heat for one hour, season to taste. Remove from heat and leave covered for 24 hours. Refridgerate and reheat before serving.