The real Polish Bigos recipe

Bigos recipe, a traditional Polish dish based on cabbage and pork meat:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg sauerkraut cabbage 
• 1 kg pork spare ribs or pork shoulder 
• 1 smoked sausage  
• 150 g dried mushrooms
• 1 big onion 
• 80 g margarine  
• 2 to 3 tablespoon tomato purée  
• 1 teaspoon Ketchup 
• 3 bay leaves 
• 8 juniper berries  
• salt and pepper
• 
  

Preparation:

1) Prepare the meat: Cut it in small cubes, get rid of all nerves of fat parts of the meat. 

2) Brown the sliced onion in the margarine at low heat and covered. Then add the meat, season with salt and pepper, cover and let it cook for a while (20 minutes). 

3) Preparer the cabbage : cut it roughly and put it in a pan with the bay leaves and the juniper berries, the dried mushrooms cut in smaller pieces, a bit of salt, and cover the cabbage with water. Cook it until the cabbage is soft. (This takes at least 1 hour).

4) Meanwhile, once the pork is soft enough, add the sausage cut in small cubes and let it cook at low heat for 20 minutes.  

5) When the cabbage is ready, remove a bit of water, add the meat and stir delicately the preparation. 

6) Progressively, add the tomato purée, spoon by spoon. The quantity depends on your own taste. 

7) Finally, add the ketchup and stir again. The ketchup is going to make the recipe sweeter, to balance the sour taste of the cabbage. 

Advice: this delicious Polish dish tastes even better the next day.. Don't hesitate to reheat it once or twice. 

Bon appétit, Smacznego :)