12 Oct Kwaśnica – the lesser known Polish sauerkraut soup
Kapuśniak versus Kwaśnica
If you don’t have Polish roots you may have not heard of Kapuśniak or Kwaśnica, so let me give you a short explanation. Kapuśniak is the quintessential Polish sauerkraut soup that is popular all over the country, Kwaśnica is it’s hardy and wild mountain cousin. Ideal as a comforting meal after walking or skiing, as it’s more of a stew really. The former is cooked with root vegetables and potatoes, the latter has no root vegetables in it, only plenty of wild mushrooms. Both can be cooked on smoked pork ribs, however, Kwaśnica is often cooked with mutton too. I could get neither here in the UK, so read on to see what I came up with.
Kwaśnica in the UK
Even though we have plenty of well-stocked Polish shops in the UK, it’s still tricky to get things like smoked ribs. I have a brilliant local butcher, yet he rarely has mutton (just not popular where we are). However, when I explained the whole concept, he suggested neck of lamb, which worked very well indeed. He cut it into steaks for shorter cooking time and after 3 hours of cooking the meat fell off the bone nicely. The sauerkraut can be obtained from any Polish shop (if they have some in a barrel then go for that!) or made easily at home. You can find my recipe for purple kraut, which we prefer, here.
A recipe for Kwaśnica, Polish sauerkraut mountain soup
This mountain soup may be served with potatoes, but the potatoes should be cooked separately (unlike in Kapuśniak). I used leftover roast potatoes, which we cut up smaller and then added to the soup. This worked very well, but traditionally, you would eat Kwaśnica with crusty bread.
Kwaśnica – the lesser known Polish sauerkraut soup
Course: SoupCuisine: PolishDifficulty: Intermediate6
servings30
minutes3
hoursThis is a tangy, smokey mountain soup, perfect for this time of year. The way I cook it keeps some of the probiotics in, so that it will give your immune system a boost.
Ingredients
Half a neck of lamb, cut into steaks
Bay leaf
Salt, to taste
20g dried mushrooms
Small onion
Garlic clove
50g smoked lardons or bacon bits (optional)
300g Sauerkraut, plus brine
100g potatoes, cooked and diced (optional)
1 teaspoon marjoram
Directions
- Pour 2lt of water of the lamb and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and summer for 2-3 hours.
- Wash the dried mushrooms under warm water from a pre-boiled kettle, then place them in a bowl and cover with 200ml hot water and leave for 30min.
- After the lamb has been cooking for 2 hours, slice the mushrooms and add them to the soup along with liquid (leaving anything tiny bit at the end, where any earth might be left). Carry on simmering for at least 30min to cook the mushrooms.
- Place the onion over the stove to char, for that smokey flavour, then add it to the pan and simmer for at least 30min.
- Mince the garlic with the salt (as shown) and add this to the pan.
- Grill the bacon or fry the lardons until crispy and add them in (in bits). Add the marjoram.
- Chop the sauerkraut and add it for the final 10min of simmering time. Turn the heat off and allow the soup to stand for 5-10min before serving. Stir a couple of tablespoons of brine in at the end.