Bigus is a traditional dish of Polish and Belarusian cuisine. Prepare it from simple and affordable ingredients, and it turns out the dish is amazingly tasty.
The tongue makes everyone happy: the sourness of the sauerkraut and the sweetness of fresh cabbage, the juiciness of the meat and the saltiness of the ham, the aroma of smoked meat and the spice of prunes.
However, the recipes of the classic bigus allow the use of additional ingredients, different types of meat and meat products in any combination. In general, based on the basic recipe, each housewife has her own way to feed the family with a matchless cabbage dish.
Bigus Classic - General Cooking Principles
In a traditional dish cooked in Polish, you need to be sure to mix sauerkraut and fresh cabbage. It turns out a harmonious combination in which there is no harsh acid and excessive sweetness. Sour cabbage needs to be washed, and fresh just finely chop.
The obligatory component of the bigus of the classic is lard with layers of meat - underconevina, as well as smoked meats, most often sausages. You can lay the meat in any order. For example, first fry the meat, and then add to it cabbage and other ingredients. And you can first put out the cabbage, and then add meat products to it. It all depends on their type.
The main cooking method is long stewing, even languishing cabbage on the stove or in the oven. The latter option is preferable, as the temperature will be higher, the cabbage will be extinguished faster and will be softer. Ovens are different, the approximate temperature of extinguishing is 250 ° C. Classic bigus should be cooked in thick-bottomed and thick-walled dishes, for example, a cauldron. A delicious bigus will turn out in a big pot of clay.
The consistency of the finished dish should be thick enough, without liquid, but the bigus should neither dry out nor overcook.
Bigus classic with pork and smoked
Smoked meats give a special taste to Bigus. You can enhance it with dry white wine. If you do not want to use alcohol, replace its volume with plain water. Tasty, satisfying and very simple. Try it! Ingredients:
• six hundred grams of fresh cabbage;
• four hundred grams of sauerkraut;
• medium carrot;
• large onion;
• four hundred grams of pork pulp;
• two hundred grams of any smoked meat;
• a tablespoon of tomato paste;
• black pepper peas (3-4 peas);
• a little cumin (half a spoonful);
• seventy grams of prunes;
• oil for the pan;
• half a cup of white wine (better than dry);
• salt.
Preparation:
Pork cut is not very large.
Grate carrot
Onions cut into large cubes.
Cut smoked meat.
Chop fresh cabbage.
Heat the oil in a high skillet or cauldron and roll the meat cubes.
Fry until evaporated.
Salt
Lay the carrot, smoked, mix and fry for five minutes.
Combine the tomato paste with wine or water, mix, put cumin, crushed pepper into the dressing and pour everything into the frying.
Distribute fresh cabbage first, then rinsed and squeezed pickled.
Simmer on minimum heat for half an hour.
Prune cut into small pieces.
When the cabbage is almost ready, put the prunes in the pan, mix.
Boil another ten minutes and file.
Bigus is a classic Belarusian with Antonovka and tomatoes
In this variant of the bigus there is no sauerkraut. A special taste will add Antonovka dish - sweet and sour variety of apples. Instead of pork you can take beef.
Ingredients:
• six hundred grams of pork pulp;
• eight hundred grams of cabbage;
• two hundred grams of ham;
• three tablespoons of lard;
• two tomatoes;
• four medium bulbs;
• four Antonov apples;
• garlic head;
• three bay leaves;
• 10 pieces of black peppercorns;
• salt.
Preparation:
Pork cut into six pieces.
Onions large shred.
Cabbage thinly cut into strips.
Cut the garlic with a knife.
Ham cut into cubes.
Cut the tomatoes into slices.
Remove apples from the core and also cut into cubes.
In a saucepan with a thick bottom, heat the fat and throw the meat.
Fry the meat on all sides.
Now lay out the bigus ingredients in layers: first put a third of the total volume of bay leaf, pepper, onion cubes, cabbage straw, then tomatoes, apples, chopped ham and onions, then cabbage and spice residues. Salt to taste.
Simmer everything on low heat: an hour and a half on the stove or an hour in the oven at 250 degrees.
Watch for juiciness: if the liquid remains low, and the quenching is not over, pour some boiling water on it.
Bigus classic with veal and apples
Instead of prunes in the bigus of a classic, sweet and sour apples are good, for example, aromatic Antonovka. Be sure to cook this recipe. And veal can be replaced by beef.
Ingredients:
• eight hundred grams of veal;
• three hundred grams of sausage boiled or smoked;
• eight hundred grams of fresh cabbage;
• three hundred grams of sauerkraut;
• Big apple;
• two medium bulbs;
• tablespoon of sugar;
• a teaspoon of salt (vary the amount to your taste);
• ground black pepper to taste;
• vegetable oil;
• two tablespoons of tomato sauce.
Preparation:
Rinse sauerkraut and simmer in a skillet with a little water.
Freshly chopped cabbage finely chop.
Bulbs finely chopped.
Apple free from the skin, cut into cubes.
Cut the sausage into small slices of the same size.
Cut the meat into small pieces.
In a well-heated butter fry the veal.
Spread heated sauerkraut on top of the meat, then onions, fresh cabbage, and apple.
Stew ingredients for an hour.
Stir, lay the sausage, apples, fill with bigus pepper, salt, sugar, mix again.
Cover under the lid for ten minutes and serve.
Bigus classic with sausage
The budget version of the dish can be cooked without meat at all. With bigus sausage, classic also turns out very tasty, has a distinctive flavor and cooks faster. By the way, someone like that, sausage, bigus especially like. It is usually recommended to mix smoked and boiled sausage (or ham). But you can use the sausage of any one type.
Ingredients:
• kilogram of sauerkraut (you can replace part of the volume with fresh cabbage);
• two hundred grams of boiled sausage or ham;
• two hundred grams of smoked sausage;
• two bulb onions;
• two medium carrots;
• a tablespoon of thick tomato paste;
• cooking oil;
• a teaspoon of sugar;
• salt to your taste; • six prunes;
• spices to taste (a mixture of pepper, laurel).
Preparation:
Rinse sauerkraut, put in a pan or cauldron.
Pour into a cabbage a glass of water or ready-made meat broth and simmer for an hour.
Onions and carrots cut into thin strips. You can just rub it big.
Cut the sausage into cubes or cubes.
Soak dry prunes, soft immediately cut.
On a hot skillet fry onions and carrots until soft.
Add sausage, mix and fry for five minutes.
Put the tomato paste, mix, heat for a minute.
Place the zazharku in soft cabbage, season with sugar and pepper, add salt to taste (optional), put the prunes pieces.
Simmer all together for another fifteen minutes and serve.
Bigus classic with chicken
Very tasty classic bigus chicken fillet. Gentle meat goes well with cabbage spiciness. The recipe only contains fresh cabbage. Optionally, you can connect it with a sour.
Ingredients:
• a pound of chicken fillet;
• kilogram of fresh cabbage;
• large carrot;
• two medium bulb bulbs;
• a teaspoon of salt;
• half a spoon of ground pepper;
• cooking oil;
• Bay leaf.
Preparation:
Boil a half liter of water with salt.
Finely chop the cabbage and throw it into the boiling water. Immediately turn off and warm for five minutes.
Drain the cabbage into a colander.
Cut carrot into strips, chop onion into cubes.
Chicken fillet cut into small cubes.
In a deep frying pan, pour in the oil, immediately put the cabbage and carrots, add salt, throw the bay leaf and simmer under the lid.
In the second pan, quickly fry the meat in hot oil together.
When the meat turns white and a golden crust appears, toss the onion, fry for another three minutes. Salt and sprinkle with pepper.
Put the meat in the cabbage, sprinkle with sugar, mix, you can add salt to taste and close the lid and simmer for ten minutes.
Bigus classic with potatoes and bell peppers
If you add potatoes to the classic bigus, you will get a more substantial dish. The taste will change a little, especially if you add spicy Bulgarian pepper to the ingredients.
Ingredients:
• six hundred grams of pork; • four hundred grams of fresh cabbage;
• two hundred grams of sauerkraut;
• four potatoes;
• large tomato;
• large bulb onion;
• two small carrots;
• average Bulgarian pepper;
• oil for the pan;
• salt and pepper.
Preparation:
A piece of pork cut into small cubes.
Heat the oil in a deep pan, throw the meat.
Fry the pork until lightly crusted, then salt, pepper and simmer over low heat.
While the meat is stewing, chop fresh cabbage and sour rinse.
Chop the onion.
Chop carrots in small straws.
Onions and carrots lay in a skillet with meat, simmer over low heat.
Chop the peeled potatoes arbitrarily and send to bigus.
After five minutes, put both types of cabbage into the pan, continue quenching.
Pepper free from seeds, cut into strips and put to the cabbage.
Remove the skin from a tomato, chop and put in a pan.
Stew bigus classic with potatoes for another ten minutes.
Salt, pepper, mix, let stand for five minutes and serve.
Bigus Classic - Tricks and tips
- To quickly cook Bigus, do not discard any pruning residues from the holidays and sausage, ham and other smoked meats. From can be folded into a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. You can add to any of the bigus recipes with meat or instead of it.
- Bigus becomes tastier when it stays 3-4 days in the cold. It is not by chance that in Poland this dish is prepared for future use and even frozen. From such additional processing, cabbage becomes only gaining additional flavor.
- It is convenient to cook a bigus classic in a slow cooker on the extinguishing program. Cabbage is soft, keeps juiciness.
