This might sound unusual if you weren’t born in Central Europe — but bear with me.

This is one of the staples of my household, a comfort food at heart. It comes together with sauerkraut and heavy cream and is traditionally made with pork, but I prefer to use a meat alternative. What I use is dried soy meat — it’s very cheap, has a great texture, and is absolutely delicious if you know how to prepare it properly. Lucky for you, I’ll show you the way!

Sauerkraut & Soy Meat Stew

Central-european comfort meal. Cheap, hearty and nourishing.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 5

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: czech, german, hungarian, slovak

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 150 g dried soy meat cubes
• 600 g sauerkraut (with its liquid)
• 250 ml heavy cream (or 400g white yogurt)
• 2 medium onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika (or mix smoked and sweet)
• chilli — to taste
• black pepper — to taste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• olive oil for frying

Method

 

1. Start by rehydrating and flavouring the soy meat. Place the dried soy cubes in a pot with enough water to cover, add the stock cube, soy sauce, and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the soy meat has absorbed all the flavours and softened. Set aside — keep the cooking water.
2. Slice the onions and fry in a generous splash of olive oil over medium heat until golden and soft. Add the crushed garlic and spices — paprika, chilli, cumin, black pepper, bay leaf — and fry for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add the sauerkraut along with its liquid, then add the cooked soy meat together with its cooking water. Stir everything together and bring to a boil. Add more water if needed — the stew should be thick but not dry.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes to let the flavours come together.
5. Stir in the heavy cream or yogurt. Taste and adjust — add a pinch of salt or a spoonful of sugar to balance the sourness of the sauerkraut if needed.
6. Serve hot with a thick slice of bread. 🍞

Notes

Note: If using yogurt instead of heavy cream, take the stew off the heat before stirring it in to prevent it from splitting.