🍲 Hunter's stew (bigos with wine)

Name: Hunter's stew (bigos with wine)
Total time: 190 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Poland · Central Europe
Ingredients: 800 g sauerkraut, drained and chopped; 500 g fresh white cabbage, shredded; 500 g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes; 300 g smoked sausage, sliced; 20 g dried mushrooms, soaked in 300 ml hot water; 8 prunes, chopped; 200 ml dry red wine; 1 onion, chopped, and 2 tbsp tomato paste; 2 bay leaves, 5 allspice berries, 1 tsp black pepper; 2 tbsp vegetable oil, salt

Origin: Poland · Central Europe

345kcal

per serving · 300 g

115kcal

per 100 g

24 gProtein8 g / 100 g

18 gFat6 g / 100 g

21 gCarbs7 g / 100 g

Hunter's stew is the festive version of Polish bigos: sauerkraut and fresh cabbage braised for hours with pork, smoked sausage, dried mushrooms and prunes, finished with a glass of dry red wine. The wine deepens the colour and rounds off the sourness of the cabbage. It is served hot in bowls, often after resting a day or two, when the flavours have fully melded.

Diets

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Low-carb7 g carbs per 100 g

Not vegetarianbecause of: pork, sausage

Not veganbecause of: pork, sausage

Contains porkbecause of: pork

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

sauerkrautcabbageporksausagemushroomspruneswine

Recipe

6 servings190 min

Ingredients

800 g sauerkraut, drained and chopped
500 g fresh white cabbage, shredded
500 g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes
300 g smoked sausage, sliced
20 g dried mushrooms, soaked in 300 ml hot water
8 prunes, chopped
200 ml dry red wine
1 onion, chopped, and 2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves, 5 allspice berries, 1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil, salt

Method

Simmer the sauerkraut with 300 ml water in a large pot for 30 minutes.
Brown the pork in the oil, add the onion and sausage and fry for 5 minutes.
Add the meat, fresh cabbage, mushrooms with their strained soaking water, bay leaves and allspice to the pot.
Cover and cook on low heat for 1.5–2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the wine, add the prunes and tomato paste, season and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Rest for a day if you can and reheat gently before serving.

How to make it lighter

Trim visible fat from the pork and lift off the fat that sets on top after the stew cools.
Use half the sausage and more cabbage — the wine and mushrooms keep the flavour rich.
Most of the alcohol cooks off in 30 minutes of simmering, but some remains; leave the wine out for an alcohol-free bowl.

History

The English name reflects the tradition that bigos was cooked after hunts in the Polish-Lithuanian countryside, once with game as well as pork. Recipes vary from house to house, and adding red wine or Madeira is a common touch in richer, holiday versions. Today it is eaten across Poland, especially at Christmas and in the cold months.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →