Polish · Authentic-ish Polish
Bigos Hunter Stew
200 kcal a serving, against 497 for the traditional version. That is 297 kcal off, or 60%, with 12.3g of protein. Serves 6. 2 hours, overnight if you want the flavour to deepen.
What the traditional version is
Classic Polish hunter's stew of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, long-simmered with a greatest hits of pork: belly, bacon, smoked Polish sausage and sometimes beef or venison. Enriched with prunes, caraway, onion and a splash of wine.
What changed, and what each change costs
All the fatty pork (belly, bacon, smoked sausage, beef) swapped for lean chicken sausage and more mushrooms
The heart of classic bigos is a confit of everything pig-shaped. That's a spectacular way to eat if you've been out shooting all morning, less so if you've just got back from Sainsbury's.
What it costs you. If you're looking for porky stickiness and those little gems of rendered fat, you're going to miss them. The mouthfeel is lighter, and the stew won't give your cabbage that lacquered finish. The upside is, you can have two bowls and still fit in your coat.
Fresh chestnut mushrooms replaced with dried mushrooms for flavour and bite
Fresh mushrooms break down into nothing after a couple of hours. Dried ones hold up and bring proper savouriness, which is handy when the animal fats have left the room.
What it costs you. You don't get the same squish as with fresh, but you pick up a ton of flavour and they're proper toothsome in the final dish.
Kept the sauerkraut and prunes, skipped the olive oil
The traditional sometimes calls for oil to help all that meat start rendering. Without fatty pork, you just don't need the extra fat to get things going.
What it costs you. The stew doesn't glisten and the glossy finish is gone. You'll also notice you're not scraping fat off the top the next day, which is a mixed blessing.
Dropped the wine, upped the bay and caraway
Wine adds acidity and depth, but if you're counting calories and not spending the afternoon at a lodge, it's the first thing to go. Herbs and spice step up to fill the gap.
What it costs you. There's a little less perfume and complexity, but the bay and caraway aren't shy. If you miss wine, add a splash of vinegar at the end, but don't blame me if it goes too sharp.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 497 | 200 |
| Protein | 30.1g | 12.3g |
| Fat | 29.2g | 3.8g |
| Saturated fat | 9.8g | 1.4g |
| Carbohydrate | 28.1g | 33.7g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 6.1g | 6.1g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Polish prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, sulphites.
The method is in the book
If you're a purist after the full pork pageant, you won't get it here. Without all that rendered fat, the cabbage is softer and the sauce is lighter. But you do keep the proper tang and most of the chew, and the mushrooms and sausage have a go at standing in for the missing meat. It's not a replacement for a week in the woods, but you can have a second helping and still walk to work. It's not boar-hunter's bigos, it's office-lunch bigos - and sometimes that's the only kind you've got time for.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Polish, along with 56 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.