Polish Bigos: Slow-Simmered Hunter's Stew with Sauerkraut, Kielbasa and Wild Mushrooms

Cover the dried mushrooms with 2 cups (480 ml) boiling water and soak for 30 minutes. Lift them out, chop roughly, and strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter to remove grit. Reserve both.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 oz (30 g) dried porcini or wild mushrooms
• 2 lb (900 g) sauerkraut, drained and squeezed
• 1 small head green cabbage (about 1 1/2 lb / 700 g), cored and shredded
• 1 1/2 lb (700 g) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 lb (450 g) smoked kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch coins
• 6 oz (170 g) slab bacon, diced
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup (150 g) pitted prunes, halved
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup (240 ml) dry red wine
• 2 bay leaves, 6 allspice berries and 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Rye bread and boiled potatoes, to serve

Instructions

1. Cover the dried mushrooms with 2 cups (480 ml) boiling water and soak for 30 minutes. Lift them out, chop roughly, and strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter to remove grit. Reserve both.
2. Cook the diced bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until the fat renders and the bacon is golden, about 6 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Season the pork cubes with salt and pepper and brown them in the bacon fat in two batches, about 4 minutes per batch, until deeply colored on all sides. Set aside with the bacon.
4. Add the onions to the pot and cook for 8 minutes until soft and golden, scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, paprika, marjoram and caraway and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
5. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes. Add the sauerkraut, shredded cabbage, chopped mushrooms and their strained liquid, the browned pork, bacon, prunes, bay leaves and allspice. Stir well; the pot will be very full but the cabbage collapses quickly.
6. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over the lowest heat for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes and adding a splash of water if the bottom looks dry. The cabbage should turn a deep amber and the pork should be fork-tender.
7. Stir in the kielbasa coins and simmer uncovered for a final 30 minutes so the stew thickens and the sausage flavors the whole pot. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper; it should be tangy, smoky and slightly sweet from the prunes.
8. For the best flavor, cool completely and refrigerate overnight, then reheat slowly the next day. Bigos famously improves with each reheating. Serve in deep bowls with rye bread and boiled potatoes.
9. Bigos is often called the national dish of Poland, and it was traditionally cooked in enormous cauldrons during autumn hunts, which is how it earned the name hunter's stew. Hunters brought home game and foraged mushrooms, and the stew was reheated over campfires day after day, growing richer each time. There is a saying that bigos should be reheated at least three times before it is worth eating. It is the quintessential cold-weather comfort food of Central Europe, perfect for the dark weeks of November.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 585 kcal
• Protein: 34g
• Fat: 36g
• Carbohydrates: 30g
• Fiber: 8g
• Sugar: 16g
• Sodium: 1480mg