My Kapusta Polish Cabbage Soup Recipes

CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
• Add the salt pork strips to the pot and fry on each side until the meat begins to brown, a 4-5 minutes. Then flip and repeat for another 4-5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage, sauerkraut, and chicken broth.
• Stir until the ingredients are well-combined.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. You can fish out the salt pork and chop it up, putting it back into the soup, or if you're not into that, you can discard it.
• Adjust the seasonings to your liking and serve hot.

POLISH CABBAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Fill a large stock pot with about 8-10 cups of water. Bring to a boil and add spareribs. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. If any foam forms on surface, skim it off then add sauerkraut and cook for another 30 minutes.
• Add onion, celery sticks, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, peppercorns and shredded cabbage. Cook for another 30 minutes longer.
• Remove ribs at this point and cut meat from the bone. Shred or cut meat into bite sized pieces and put back into soup. Discard bones.
• * If you are using kielbasi, add it in at about the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.
• *Add salt to taste at this point. If you are using the kielbasi it will already add a bit of salt to the soup so taste before you add.
• * If soup taste too sour you may add a pinch of sugar at the end. Sometimes this can vary depending on the type of sauerkraut you purchase.

KAPUSTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat; saute onions and mushrooms until tender.
• In a medium saucepan over high heat, boil cabbage for 10 minutes.
• In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish combine onions, mushrooms, cabbage, sauerkraut, sugar, thyme, salt and pepper; mix well. Dot remaining 2 tablespoons butter on top. Cover.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

KAPUSTA (POLISH CABBAGE SOUP)

Steps:

• Place pork ribs in a large 8 quart heavy pot and cover the ribs with water almost to the top. Bring to a boil uncovered, lower to a fast simmer (low boil) and cook for 45 minutes, skimming off foam as they start to boil. Shut off burner and let them sit in the water for 15 minutes.
• While the pork is cooking, in a medium frying pan, cook the diced salt pork on a medium high flame for 2-3 minutes or until just starting to brown. Add onion to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until just starting to get tender. Reduce to medium heat, stir in the flour and sauté for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Once cooked, remove ribs from the pot and let cool. Save the liquid in the pot.
• To the pot of liquid, add the sauerkraut and juice, shredded cabbage, stewed tomatoes, caraway seeds and salt as well as the cooked salt pork and onion mixture.
• Cook over medium high heat until cabbage is cooked, approximately 30-35 minutes. While the cabbage mixture is cooking, remove the meat from the bones, shredding the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return the cooked pork to the pot once the cabbage is tender and heat to serving temperature.
• Peel and quarter potatoes and place in cold sated water while cabbage mixture is cooking. Bring to a boil and over a medium boil, cook potatoes for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain water and cool potatoes to room temperature. Once the cabbage mixture has finished cooking, cut cooked potatoes into bite sized pieces and either add to the finished cabbage dish or serve on the side. (cooking in quarters and cutting after the fact will make them more firm and less mushy since less of the surface touched the boiling water.
• Serve with rye bread and butter for a traditional Polish meal.

KAPUśNIAK: POLISH SAUERKRAUT SOUP

Steps:

• Divide the ribs into smaller pieces, ideally of such a size that they fit easily in the soup plate. Season them with salt and pepper.
• Grab a frying pan and heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Fry them on each side until they start to turn golden. Moved these fried ribs into a pot (ideally sized at 3 qt / 3 litres or bigger). Don't wash the frying pan just yet!
• Chop the leek and dice the onion finely. Fry these veggies on the fat that remained from frying ribs. At the end of frying, add crushed garlic clove and spices: one tablespoon of dried marjoram and half a teaspoon of caraway seeds. When heated, the spices release their essential oils, giving Kapuśniak its unique taste. Put the fried ingredients aside for now.
• Peel the vegetables (2 carrots, a parsley root and a chunk of a celery root). Dice them into squares (roughly with half-inch/1 cm sides). Drop them into the pot with ribs. Add 4 bay leaves and 6 allspice berries. Then, pour 2 quarts (around 2 litres) of water.
• Cook for 30 minutes on low heat, until both ribs and vegetables soften.
• Peel and cube the potatoes, add them to the soup and continue cooking until they soften (that takes around 15 minutes)
• As you wait, drain the sauerkraut (keep the juices!) and chop it roughly. Add them to the soup, together with the onion, leek and spices we have fried before.
• Continue cooking on a low heat for a further 30 minutes, in that time the sauerkraut will soften and release its aromas.
• Have a taste. Season with salt and pepper. If Kapuśniak needs more sour 'kick', add some leftover sauerkraut juice.
• Pour the soup into bowls / soup plates, making sure that everyone gets some veggies and meat. Sprinkle each portion with chopped parsley.

CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE

Steps:

• Clean and dice the potatoes into small pieces. Shred the cabbage and carrots.
• Rinse the meat under cold water. In a large soup pot, bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Add in the meat and the Better Than Bouillon Beef Base and cook for 30 minutes.
• Add in the potatoes and cabbage and simmer the soup for 10 minutes.
• Dice the onions and shred the carrots. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the onions with a little bit of oil until golden brown. Add in the shredded carrots and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Remove the meat pieces from the soup and remove the bone. Add the meat back into the soup and toss the bones in the trash.
• Season to taste with salt. Serve immediately and enjoy!

KAPUSTA (POLISH BRAISED CABBAGE)

Steps:

• Sauté the diced bacon in a medium sauté pan with a lid, over medium high heat, 2-3 min.
• Add the diced onions. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and the onions are golden. (At this point, if there is a lot of fat in the pan from the bacon, drain some off, leaving just enough bacon grease to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.)
• Add the garlic and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
• Add the shredded cabbage and water. Cover the pot and simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the cabbage has softened.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt and pepper. Taste your kapusta, and adjust the seasonings as desired.
• Serve with polish sausage or pierogies.

MY KAPUSTA (POLISH CABBAGE SOUP)

Steps:

• Shred cabbage, set aside.
• Brown ribs in small amount of olive oil in large fry pan; remove from pan.
• Sauté cabbage using drippings in pan and butter. I usually do this in batches, adding all cabbage and juices from each batch into the pot.
• Add butter to pan and make next batch.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add sauerkraut and mix in well.
• Bury ribs in cabbage mix, fill with cold water just to cover all.
• Bring pot to boil, cover and lower heat to simmer.
• Simmer for about 2 hours.
• Check after 1-1/2 hours to see if cabbage is soft; meat should be falling off the bones.
• When done, carefully remove meat making sure to get all the bones.
• There aren't many or any bones in the country style ribs, that's why I use them instead of regular ribs.
• Separate meat from bones and fat and return meat to pot. Mix.
• I use an 8 quart enameled cast iron pot. Try to use a heavy metal pot or one that has a heavy bottom.
• Some people serve this in a bowl with boiled or mashed potatoes and/or some sour cream; and a nice hunk of Polish sisal bread, if you can find any!
• You could also add caraway or dill seeds when cooking it.
• NOTE:.If you can make this the night before you will serve it, and refrigerate it, it is better. The taste improves with age!