How to cook bigus at home. Bigus from fresh and sauerkraut

Description

Bigus classic- the easiest way to prepare a traditional Polish dish.

Sauerkraut is what distinguishes bigus from ordinary stew with cabbage. Well, spices with dried fruits also add originality to the taste of bigus. It’s very easy to prepare classic bigus at home. The step-by-step recipe for preparing the dish with photos, which is presented below, will help you easily and quickly cope with each stage of cooking.

Bigus is traditionally prepared not only from sauerkraut, but also from fresh cabbage. During the stewing process, the ingredients will release juices and will be saturated with them. Tender pork will be slightly sweet and sour and very juicy. We will fry the meat in butter, which will make it even more expressive in taste. A vegetable side dish of carrots and onions will be a piquant addition to the dish.

Let's start cooking.

Ingredients

(400 g)
(400 g)
(300 g)
(1 PC.)
(1 PC.)
(30 g)
(5 pieces.)
(50-70 ml)
(taste)

Cooking steps

Prunes must be soaked in cold water for 10-15 minutes in advance. After this, you need to remove the pit if you purchased dried fruits with pits.

You can buy sauerkraut whatever you like, for example, cooked in layers.

We cut all the sauerkraut we have into small squares.

We cut fresh cabbage in the same way, after washing it first.

We wash and peel the carrots, then grate them on a coarse grater.

Peel the onion and cut into half rings of medium width.

If necessary, defrost the meat, then rinse and dry with a paper towel.

Cut the pork flesh into small cubes.

Heat a frying pan with a thick bottom and melt a piece of butter in it.

Fry the pork cubes over high heat on each side for 3-5 minutes until they are golden brown.

Add onion feathers to the pan and mix the ingredients.

When the onion has become transparent, add carrots to it and the meat in the pan.

After 2-3 minutes of cooking, pour the sauerkraut into the pan.

Reduce heat slightly, fry ingredients in a frying pan for 15 minutes, add a little water if the vegetables start to burn. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the vegetables and meat for another 15 minutes.

After this period, add fresh cabbage to the pan and simmer for 7 minutes.

Add softened and chopped prunes to the ingredients.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly.

Transfer the contents of the pan into a glass baking dish, add a little water, and cover with a lid.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and place the pan with meat and vegetables there. Cook the dish for 1-1.5 hours, periodically removing the pan from the oven and stirring its contents.

Let the finished dish cool slightly, then place it on plates and serve with black bread and a variety of sauces.

Bigus classic is ready.

Bon appetit!

How often do housewives have to think about what to cook to please all family members? In the summer, this issue is resolved quite simply - fruits, vegetables, salads will diversify the menu and make the family diet tasty and nutritious. What to do in winter? First, use frozen vegetables and fruits. And secondly, remember that there is such a dish as bigus made from sauerkraut. This is a great option for a family dinner when you don’t want pickles, but truly tasty and homemade food. At the same time, the recipe for bigus is not at all complicated; preparing it is quite simple and quick. In general, bigus came to us from Polish cuisine, but has already become a completely familiar and beloved dish by many thanks to its satiety and piquant taste.

How to cook bigus? It turns out that there is far more than one recipe for bigus, and many recipes are very different from each other. For example, you can prepare this dish from sauerkraut and/or fresh cabbage, use pork, beef, chicken (raw or smoked) as meat, as well as sausage or frankfurters - in any case, the result will be a very appetizing and aromatic dish.

Bigus recipe with sauerkraut

To prepare this option, we need half a kilogram of sauerkraut, half a kilogram (or a little less) of meat, one or two onions, one or two carrots, 100 g of tomato paste (or ketchup, preferably not too spicy), salt, sugar and oil for frying . If desired, you can add spices to the dish that will enhance its piquant taste (black pepper, bay leaf, dill, paprika, turmeric, rosemary). First you need to cut the meat into small pieces, finely chop the onion and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Then fry everything together in vegetable oil. To enhance the taste, you can improve the bigus recipe and add smoked meat and sausages (about 200 g), which also need to be cut into pieces and added to the fried onions, carrots and meat. For lovers of prunes, we can advise you to add some chopped fruits (5-8 pieces) to the bigus at this stage of preparation. It is best to fry food in a frying pan with high sides and a thick bottom, or in a special cauldron. You need to add cabbage to the fried meat, simmer a little, then add salt, pepper and add water (about a glass). Cover the dish with a lid and let the bigus simmer for about half an hour or a little more (just remember to regularly stir the dish being prepared to prevent the bottom layer from burning). Then you need to add tomato paste or ketchup to the bigus, mix well and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. That's all - you can serve it on the table.

Fresh cabbage bigus recipe looks about the same, only the cooking time can be slightly reduced (especially if the cabbage is young). A very interesting option would be to prepare bigus from sauerkraut and fresh cabbage at the same time. In this case, both types of cabbage are added to the meat at the same time, and then everything follows the scheme described above. Pork is most often used as meat, but if you cook bigus with leaner meat, for example, chicken or beef, the result will be no worse (and at the same time the dish will become much more dietary). Instead of ketchup or tomato paste, you can add fresh or canned tomatoes. To diversify the taste, you can prepare bigus with mushrooms, for which you need to pre-fry the mushrooms, and then add them to the cabbage and meat being cooked 10-15 minutes before turning off. It is interesting that the bigus recipe, which came to us from Poland, includes dry red wine in the ingredients, which is used to stew cabbage. However, if bigus is prepared for the whole family, including children, it is better to do without alcohol.

Bon appetit!

A long time ago, bigus with meat became a symbol of Polish national cuisine. Everyone cooked and ate it there, everywhere and always. In harsh winters, bigus was fed to soldiers on campaigns, and monks in monasteries also ate it; the dish was traditionally on any table in Poland, be it a luxurious noble castle or a simple peasant hut.

The main ingredients of this dish are meat and sauerkraut. Moreover, almost any meat components can be used for bigus. Avid hunters prepared a sumptuous dish with game (rabbit or duck). In rich and noble houses, selected pork, veal, and domestic chicken were used for cooking. And poor Warsaw students made bigus with store-bought sausages or sausages.

The dish has long gone beyond Polish borders and has taken root remarkably well in Ukrainian, Russian, Lithuanian and Belarusian national cuisines. The classic recipe for bigus consists of three main stages: first, sauerkraut and fresh cabbage are stewed, the meat components are fried separately, then everything is combined and simmered for about an hour until cooked. For even more flavor, add red wine, bay leaves, cumin and black pepper (ground or ground) during cooking.

Instead of meat, you can use potatoes, rice or mushrooms for bigus. Then the dish will turn out to be lean, suitable for vegetarians and people observing church fasts.

In any case, the bigus will turn out nourishing and tasty. Be sure to try making it for your family. This is the option when household members are not divided into two camps; everyone will definitely like bigus. After all, poetry is not dedicated to bad things, but the famous Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz wrote about this dish: “And the bigus is warming up; It’s hard to say in words how delicious it is, how wonderful it smells!”

Taste Info Vegetable main courses / Stewed cabbage

Ingredients

sauerkraut – 500 g;
fresh cabbage – 500 g;
onions – 300 g;
carrots – 200 g;
lean pork – 500 g;
boiled veal – 200 g;
smoked sausages (sausage or ribs) – 200 g;
vegetable oil – 2-3 tbsp. l.;
tomato paste – 3-4 tbsp. l.;
prunes – 100 g;
garlic – 2-3 cloves;
black pepper, salt, sugar, cumin, coriander - to your taste.

How to cook classic bigus from fresh and sauerkraut

All leftover meat dishes that can often be found in the refrigerator after holidays are suitable for bigus - boiled and smoked meat, sausages, ham.

Immediately take a large dish (with a capacity of at least 3 liters), because it is in it that the entire dish will be prepared.

Peel the onion, wash and chop into small cubes. In a large frying pan with high sides, a cauldron or a deep saucepan with a thick bottom, heat the vegetable oil (lard or bacon), add the onion and fry it until golden brown.

Peel the carrots, rinse and grate on a coarse grater. Add it to the onion and fry everything together until the carrots are soft.

Squeeze the sauerkraut from the brine and add it to the vegetables. Mix all ingredients carefully and leave to simmer over low heat for 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop fresh cabbage thinly and add salt. Gently press it with your hands so that it becomes softer, releasing the juice. Transfer the cabbage to the pan and continue simmering.

Wash the pork thoroughly, cut into small slices and fry in a separate frying pan until golden brown. After this, transfer the meat pieces into the pan with the vegetables and stir.

Add granulated sugar (about 1 teaspoon), salt and ground black pepper, cumin grains, a little ground coriander and other spices to your taste to the bigus. Pour in tomato paste previously diluted in 50-100 ml of water. Stir and simmer covered over low heat for about 30 minutes.

During this time, prepare all other ingredients. Cut prunes into large pieces, smoked deli meats into rings or cubes; chop the garlic with a knife.

Add everything to the pan. Continue simmering with the lid closed over low heat for another 1 hour.

After an hour, bigus made from sauerkraut and fresh cabbage will look so beautiful and appetizing.

A fragrant, satisfying and very tasty second course is ready. Serve it in portions in a deep plate with hot black or white bread. Bon appetit!

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Recipe No. 2. Delicious bigus with pork and semi-smoked sausage

Those who served in the army are very familiar with bigus. And may the culinary experts forgive me for this crude joke because this dish is worthy of respect. It’s just that army, amateur chefs from the seventies and eighties, due to laziness and lack of love for the art of cooking, turned bigus into an everyday outcast, especially in winter. According to its purpose, bigus is the second dish. And most importantly, made from the well-known cabbage, with the addition of meat. Its roots go back to Polish cuisine, but it is famous in both Lithuania and Belarus. As a rule, this is a duet of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage. If we argue about cooking technology, there are absolutely no difficulties. Cabbage and meat are stewed separately, then they continue to stew everything together, not forgetting to add all kinds of additives, as well as spices. It is interesting that from ancient times bigus was prepared in reserve and even frozen. However, when heated, the dish did not lose its taste at all. Fragrant, with a slight sourness and the taste of smoked meat, which is preferred by chefs, this dish will not leave anyone indifferent. Tomato paste or tomatoes, dry spicy and hot seasonings, smoked meats, mushrooms, prunes, and wine are added to the bigus. But my recipe for bigus is universal in the sense that it is suitable for everyone, so to speak, a democratic option without much exoticism. Simple, tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients:

pork pulp – 500 grams;
onion – 1 pc.;
carrots – 1 pc.;
fresh white cabbage – 300 g;
pickled white cabbage – 400 g;
sunflower oil – 30 ml;
tomato paste – 1 tbsp;
half-smoked sausage – 150 g;
bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
salt and black pepper - to taste.

Preparation
Any pork pulp is suitable for making bigus. This could be the back, shoulder blade, neck. Wash the meat and cut into pieces approximately 3x3 centimeters in size. Place in a thick-bottomed saucepan or cauldron.

Fry the meat until golden brown over fairly high heat, stirring occasionally. Peel, wash and chop one large carrot and a large onion. Carrots in circles, and onions in half rings.

Pour refined sunflower oil into the pan with meat and vegetables and fry for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

After this, add water to the pan in such an amount that it is 1-1.5 centimeters above the meat and vegetables.

Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the pork with carrots and onions over low heat until almost done.

While the meat is stewing, make the sauerkraut. Squeeze it out of the brine and place it in a saucepan. Pour in a small amount of water and cook for 20-25 minutes until soft.

Cut fresh white cabbage into thin strips and place in a saucepan with pork, carrots and onions.

Simmer the cabbage and meat until it becomes soft. It all depends on the quality of the cabbage and your taste preferences. If you like your cabbage a little crunchy, 10-12 minutes is enough. And if you like softer cabbage, it will take 15-20 minutes. In addition, cabbage can be very tough, so be aware that you can increase the cooking time. When the fresh cabbage is almost ready, add a tablespoon of tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, ground black pepper and your favorite spices.

Then place the sauerkraut in the pan, which you previously removed from the pan and squeezed out of the water in which it was boiled.

Finally, chop the smoked or semi-smoked sausage as desired and add it to the bigus. Instead of sausage, any smoked meats are suitable, for example, ham, ham, boiled pork, bacon.

Mix all the bigus ingredients and heat the dish over low heat for another 7-8 minutes.

An unusually aromatic, tasty and satisfying bigus made from sauerkraut and fresh cabbage is ready.

Cooking time depends on the type of meat used: veal and lamb need to be stewed for an hour and a half, pork - a little less. Add the vegetables half an hour before the end of cooking. Now I cook sauerkraut myself, according to Elena’s recipe from Kyiv!
I really like adding cumin to this dish - it gives an amazing aroma, so please do not ignore this ingredient!

Cut the meat along the ribs. Place the meat in a well-heated frying pan. I cook lamb, meat with fat, which is rendered, so I don’t add oil (pour 1-2 tbsp if necessary). Fry the meat until golden brown, then add a glass of water, cover and simmer over low heat for at least an hour.

Grate the carrots on a coarse grater or chop finely.

I cut the onion into quarter rings, you can cut it smaller.

Add onions and carrots to the stew. Stir and cook covered for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop fresh cabbage. Place it on the meat, add bay leaf, cumin (half).

Place sauerkraut on a layer of fresh cabbage and add another glass of water. Sprinkle with the remaining cumin and ground black pepper, cover with a lid and simmer until tender, about another half hour.

During the stewing process, the bigus can be stirred a couple of times.
Taste the finished dish for salt and add more salt if necessary. I didn’t need salt at all; the one contained in the sauerkraut was enough.

Bigos, bigus, bigas from fresh and sauerkraut

Bigos, bigus, bigas - all these are the names of one dish, which numerous Slavic peoples consider primordially theirs. Traditionally, in the struggle for the authorship of the bigos, the Poles hold the palm, using as an undeniable argument the lines of Adam Mickiewicz’s poem “Pan Tadeusz”: “And the bigos is warming itself; It’s hard to say in words about how delicious it is, how wonderful it smells!” A juicy, aromatic dish that harmoniously combines meat and vegetable components will be a worthy decoration for any feast and an excellent snack for strong drinks.

In order for the bigus to be a success, and for a family of four to have a hearty dinner, we will prepare according to the list in the following proportions
ingredients for the recipe:

Meat - 400 grams. Pork neck or loin is best. It will be great if the meat has fat.
Cabbage – 1000 grams. Bigus can be made from fresh or sauerkraut. For our recipe, we will take fresh and pickled white cabbage. The proportion is approximately 50 to 50.
Spices - to taste. Coriander, cumin seeds, a mixture of dried sweet peppers - this is what will make our dish incredibly aromatic. Salt and pepper.
Smoked meat or sausage – 100 grams.
Tomato - 200 milliliters. Tomato juice or tomato paste, which must first be diluted with water.
Prunes – 50 grams.

How to cook bigus from fresh and sauerkraut

Now that all the ingredients are ready, let's begin the ritual.

Let's cut the meat. Cut it into small pieces, add salt and spices.
It is best to cook bigus in a deep frying pan or cauldron; if the cookware does not have a non-stick coating, pour in a little vegetable oil. Fry the meat until lightly browned for 7-10 minutes.
Shred the fresh cabbage, don’t forget to add salt to make it soft and lightly mash it with your hands.
Place fresh cabbage on top of the browned meat, with pickled cabbage on top. Add the tomato, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes over low heat.
Meanwhile, finely chop the smoked meats and prunes.
If 20 minutes have passed since you started stewing the meat and cabbage, then you can add sausage and prunes. Stir and leave for another 10 minutes.