Bigus is the national Polish food that every native of this country loves. This dish consists of fresh cabbage and meat. It is not known for certain which recipe is classic, because each province has its own cooking characteristics. The most common recipe is fresh cabbage with several types of meat. Here will be presented some of the most popular cooking options for this dish.
Classic recipe
Braised cabbage goes very well with several types of meat. The preparation of this dish is quite simple, you only need to know the exact recipe. The advantage of bigus is that everyone in your family will like it, thanks to the meat. Also in the composition there is a large number of healthy vegetables. To prepare this dish for a family of four, you need to take so many products:
- fresh white cabbage - 1 kg;
- 200 g of pork;
- 200 g of beef;
- 200 g smoked sausages or hunting sausages;
- 150 g of carrots and onions;
- a small amount of tomato paste (about 2 tablespoons).
This ends the list of basic products, but to make the dish really tasty and original, you can not do without a lot of spices. In this case, you need to take a little marjoram, oregano, cloves, bay leaf, salt and pepper. When all the products for the bigus of fresh cabbage with pork are prepared, you can proceed directly to cooking.
Preparatory stage
First you need to take a head of cabbage, cut it in half and carefully chop with a thin straw. If the cook has a fairly large amount of experience, then this can be done with an ordinary knife, otherwise it is better to use a special shredder. Not every house has such a device, so you can take a peeler. This kitchen item will help make the perfect cut.
When the cabbage is chopped, the remaining vegetables should be peeled. Onions can be cut into strips or diced, and grate the carrots or cut into half rings. Peel pork and beef from films and veins, give the meat the shape of a medium cube or sticks. Cut sausages into small circles.
Heat treatment
When all the main products have been prepared, you should proceed directly to the preparation of the dish. To do this, you need to take a large and deep pan, pour a lot of oil and heat it well. Throw all three types of meat products and fry them until golden brown. After that, put all the vegetables and keep them for some time over high heat. When the cabbage is fried, it will have a more pleasant and pronounced taste.
Then pour about 100 ml of water and reduce heating to a minimum. Cover the pan and simmer all the ingredients for 40 minutes. In this case, do not forget to periodically stir the products, otherwise they may burn.
After 30 minutes, add the necessary amount of tomato paste, a little sugar, all the spices and salt to the pan. Mix everything thoroughly and taste. If all is well, then leave on low heat for another 5-10 minutes - until fully cooked. After that, the dish can be laid out on portioned plates and sprinkled with plenty of chopped herbs. Stewed cabbage with meat can be used both as an independent dish and with a side dish, for example, boiled potatoes. To see what the final result should be, we suggest paying attention to the photo of fresh cabbage bigus, which are presented in the article.
Warsaw Bigus
This stewed cabbage recipe is slightly different from the previous one in that it uses a mixture of fresh and sauerkraut. Such a bigus is very often prepared in the Velkopolsky Voivodeship. Locals believe that this recipe is real.
Product List
- 500 g of fresh white cabbage and the same amount of sauerkraut;
- bacon - 100 g;
- 200 g of pork neck;
- smoked sausage - 100 g;
- 50 g of dried mushrooms;
- one large onion;
- prunes - 70 g;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- a tablespoon of flour;
- a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Of spices, it is necessary to use Italian herbs, marjoram, bay leaf, ground black pepper, salt.
Fresh cabbage bigus: recipe with photo
When all the products are purchased, you can start cooking. So that the cooking does not seem too complicated, it is recommended to follow the step by step instructions:
- Cut the bacon into medium sized cubes or cubes. Boil it in a small amount of water with the addition of bay leaf, Italian herbs and marjoram.
- In this broth, put freshly cabbage shredded in straws. Also send here 500 g of sauerkraut. Optionally, you can put one bouillon cube. Cook the vegetable for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, you should peel the neck and rinse it, cut the meat and onions into cubes. Fry these two ingredients in a pan.
- Add mushrooms to the pan, reduce heat. Simmer food for several minutes.
- When the meat is soft enough, all products should be put in a pan, add chopped sausage, garlic and prunes. Bring the bigus to taste, stew the ingredients for another half an hour.
- While stewing the staple foods, put the required amount of tomato paste, sugar and flour into a small frying pan. Warm over low heat and mix thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous mass.
- At the end of cooking, put the tomatoes with flour in a pan, mix thoroughly again, and the dish can be served.
Vegetarian bigus
This recipe for a famous Polish dish can be called far from classical. However, it is suitable for those people who do not eat meat, but also want to eat tasty and satisfying. It uses a large number of different vegetables that are stewed in red wine. The end result will pleasantly surprise everyone, and even if a person cannot imagine his life without meat products, he will enjoy this dish with pleasure.
List of necessary products for cooking bigus:
- 10 medium sized champignons;
- fresh plum - 200 g;
- fresh tomatoes - 5 pcs.;
- one large head of white cabbage;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- a few cloves of garlic;
- one green and one red bell pepper;
- dill;
- red wine - 500 ml;
- butter - 50 g.
As spices, it is recommended to use caraway, marjoram, paprika, ground red pepper and salt.
Cooking process
You need to take the head of cabbage, rinse it well and cut it. Put the vegetable in a pan with vegetable oil, fry, add a small amount of water, cover the pan with a lid and simmer over low heat. In the meantime, you can start cooking the rest of the products.
Peel the onions and garlic, then cut into small cubes. Put another pan on the fire, melt butter in it and fry these two ingredients a little. Transfer to cabbage.
Now you should take the mushrooms, rinse them and, if they are small, cut in half, if medium, then into 4 parts. Cut the tomatoes into slices, bell pepper into cubes, remove the seeds from the plums, divide them in half. All of the above ingredients should be sent to the cabbage in a pan.
Pour the required amount of wine, simmer the products over medium heat for 20 minutes. Serve the dish on serving plates, sprinkled with plenty of fresh herbs. It’s best to eat vegetarian bigus with bread.
Bigus in the slow cooker
If the hostess has absolutely no time for cooking, but there is a slow cooker, then you should pay attention to this recipe. You must have so many products:
- white cabbage - 600 g;
- 150 g of pork (neck, scapula or cue ball);
- 150 g of beef;
- one bell pepper;
- 100 g of onions and carrots.
According to the recipe for bigus with meat from fresh cabbage, pork and beef should first be processed. Peel these two products from the veins and cut into medium cubes, put in the bowl of the multicooker, pour in a little vegetable oil, set the Frying mode to 7 minutes. While the meat is being prepared, you can cut cabbage into a cube or straw, in this case it doesn’t matter. Cut bell pepper, onion and carrots into cubes, set aside until the meat is fried.
When the frying process is finished, put all the vegetables in the multicooker bowl, add marjoram, peppercorns, ground pepper, salt and a bouillon cube. Pour 100 ml of water, turn on the "Extinguishing" mode and set the timer for 40 minutes. During this time, the hostess can go about their business. After the allotted time, the multicooker will give an appropriate signal, which will indicate the end of cooking.
Arrange the ready bigus on plates, sprinkle abundantly with herbs. Also in this case, you can use any other types of meat or vegetables. All according to personal culinary preferences.
Now you know a few different recipes on how to cook a Polish national dish - bigus. After trying it, everyone will be pleasantly surprised how stewed cabbage can be tasty.