Carne Polaca (literally: “Polish Meat”) is a delicious combination of sweet and spicy. It uses a sauce made with tomato, ketchup, and chipotle pepper, and it’s one of the most popular dishes for parties in the south of Mexico.
½kgof meatpork, beef, or chicken, cooked and shredded
2medium onionsfinely sliced
A chunkabout 250g of cabbage, sliced
16ozcan of tomato puree
16ozcan of diced tomatoes
8.5ozor one small bottle of ketchup
2-3chipotle peppersblended with some water and strained to remove the seeds
⅓teaspoongarlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large pan or casserole, sauté the onion and cabbage in some oil over medium heat. I recommend you slice the cabbage as thinly as possible, which will keep it from becoming tough.
Cover the pan (or casserole) for a few minutes, so that the steam can continue to cook the cabbage and mix with the flavor of the onion.
Mix in the diced tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic powder, and ketchup. After everything is well combined, let it continue to simmer for a few minutes. Add the meat (previously cooked and shredded) and mix.
Add the chipotle. (For the kids and those that do not like to eat spicy, I tend to set aside some of the stew before this step.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer on low heat for 5 more minutes.
Serve as a main dish, along with corn tostadas and some refried black beans to make a complete meal. Enjoy!
Notes
To cook the pork meat, place the pieces of meat in a large pot and cover with water. Season with salt and add ¼ of an onion, 2 garlic cloves, and one bay leaf. Cook over medium heat for 50 minutes or until the meat is soft and can be easily shredded.
If you prefer to prepare this recipe with beef, then use ½ kg of skirt steak and cook in the same way as you would the pork meat. To prepare the recipe with chicken, use one large chicken breast.
If you would like to make this stew spicier, simply add more chipotle peppers.
Carne polaca( Mexican style polish meat) can be kept refrigerated for 2 days without losing its flavor, in case you want to prepare it ahead of time.