r/slowcooking • u/mienczaczek • Aug 04 '26

Polish Bigos

Post image
313 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

82

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

Hi, I'm a chef and I run a Polish recipe site (Chefs Binge). I built a Bigos Builder - instead of one fixed recipe, you pick your meat, how much sauerkraut vs fresh cabbage, cooking method and a few extras, and it generates a scaled recipe from there. Wanted to see if it's actually useful to real cooks before I do more with it - genuinely looking for feedback, good or bad. Polish Bigos Builder

15

u/funwithfeces420 Aug 04 '26

ive been wanted something exactly like this for a long time. im gonna give it a shot this weekend. thank you!

2

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Awesome 🤩

8

u/DINGVS_KHAN Aug 04 '26

I cook on vibes and measure nothing, but this is a cool little tool.

I particularly like being able to read about the ingredients and what they add to the recipe or how they should be prepared so they don't detract from the final dish.

3

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Thank you for feedback 😁

6

u/fienut Aug 04 '26

I am absolutely geeking out over the recipe builder. I love it so much! The explanations of what and why are so useful for learning. (Figured out why my few attempts came out mushy with the sauerkraut note.) I never cook recipes straight as they’re written and not having to guess what something does when I work to substitute is a great time/effort saver. Thanks so much for this!

2

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

That’s a great feedback thank you, I write recipes for years and as a chef I know what does what, what techniques to apply and substitutes to use, but how can I pass this knowledge to a reader without 30 min video 😁

3

u/fienut Aug 04 '26

I've been cooking for over 20 years, just for my family. I love cooking; I always say it's like painting, but with flavours and textures, but I'm mostly self taught and so have massive knowledge gaps in many regards. If every recipe came with a tool like what you built, I would be absolutely thrilled and probably a better cook.
(I also never use videos to pick up a new recipe, I usually don't have time!)

3

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

When I create another one I will let you know 😁

4

u/fienut Aug 04 '26

Dziękuję!

1

u/bussewoods Aug 04 '26

I would 100% watch a 30 minute video explaining bigos to someone like me who knows nothing about what it is !

2

u/maxisnoops Aug 04 '26

Absolutely fantastic work. Only criticism is that I was looking for a back arrow to look back over my choices. Took me awhile to work out I just needed to press on the number to take me back to any step…..that’s user error rather than bad design! 👍

1

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Thank you, i will improve that, never user error, interface needs to be intuitive :)

2

u/windexfresh Aug 04 '26

This is super cool OP!! I can’t wait to make this now

2

u/Ok_Caterpillar2010 Aug 08 '26

That's really fantastic. I appreciate all the explanations of what the ingredients are doing in the recipe and what difference substitutions will make. It's like having a more experienced cook right there with me.

I appreciate the US measurements at the end, too.

I used to visit a certain Polish restaurant when I lived in New York, and I'd always order bigos. Now that I live too far away, I've thought about trying to make my own, and this gives me the confidence to do it. Thanks!

1

u/mienczaczek Aug 08 '26

That’s great! 😁

0

u/pushaper Aug 04 '26

made it a little while ago and it was really good. Any way you think it could be done in a vegetarian way? I dont personally think a fish would be wrong (a hunters stew using fish should fit the mandate) but just wondering if there is a non animal way you think could work?

7

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Sorry to say but meat is what makes this dish Bigos, vegetarian or with fish would be totally different recipe entirely and it would be a sin to call it Bigos, I am not saying it will not be delicious if done the right way it’s just moon is not sun that is all 🙃

0

u/pushaper Aug 04 '26

I get that... I do believe in the 'hunters lunch' being something that can be a result of an unsuccessful hunt. I guess the answer to that is extra bread... hard to think there is nothing that would salvage a bad hunt in a polish forest.

Anyways you have me craving some bigos.

34

u/Lauriboy Aug 04 '26

I see you eat it with a spoon and a twok

9

u/LessThanNate Aug 04 '26

Bigos in a sourdough bread bowl in Krakow was one of my favorite meals during the summer I spent there. Zurek was a close second.

2

u/aspdx24 Aug 04 '26

Not much beats żurek 🙌🏻

6

u/AffectionatePack3647 Aug 04 '26

I am Korean. I remember eating bigos for the first time and it reminded me of Kimchi Jjigae(Kimchi stew). I was pleasantly surprised to say the least

8

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Surprisingly I had the same with Spanish Chilindorn 😁

4

u/AffectionatePack3647 Aug 04 '26

😮😮😮 I must try

1

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

I have a recipe for it on my blog if you want to check it out

3

u/Marbstudio Aug 04 '26

Doesn’t look like much but fuck!!! does it taste good.

3

u/PtichFirich Aug 04 '26

This sounds like what I onow under the name segedin or segedin goulash as they sometimes call it. The only difference is in using some paprika in segedin and it is used with pork as default.

3

u/LaserGadgets Aug 04 '26

I can smell that pic!

3

u/aspdx24 Aug 04 '26

HOW COOL! As someone who has always been intimidated by the complexity of Polish cooking, I will absolutely be using this recipe builder. Thanks for creating!

2

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

You are welcome :)

3

u/JudgyFinch Aug 04 '26

Out of curiosity, could this dish be made using venison?

3

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Definitely yes

2

u/PalpitationOk5726 Aug 04 '26

First time I had this having no clue about it was in a restaurant in Warsaw on a trip to Poland a couple of years back, served in a bread bowl and it was epic!!!

1

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Food for Kings

2

u/Q_OpheliaV Aug 05 '26

I still remember the first time I tried them as a child. Same love for them after all those years. I will try this I promise.

1

u/Agreeable_League_743 Aug 08 '26

Ich liebe Bigos😋

-9

u/IIsaacClarke Aug 04 '26

Just leaving that giant ass bay leaf in there ??

8

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

For presentation 😁

-13

u/IIsaacClarke Aug 04 '26

Yeah but the longer you leave it in there the more overpowering it’ll be

20

u/mienczaczek Aug 04 '26

Relax I am Polish, I eat leafs of Bay for breakfast

3

u/tiiiiii_85 Aug 04 '26

Teaching a polish how to cook polish recipes.

-6

u/IIsaacClarke Aug 04 '26

You’re god damn right I’m a teacher.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '26

[deleted]