How to Cook a Polish Blood Sausage (Kishka/Kaszanka)
If there’s one dish from traditional Polish cuisine that creates the most controversy, it’s definitely the blood sausage. Eating a sausage made with pig’s blood might seem scary to someone unfamiliar with similar cuisine, but – when prepared just the right way – a Polish blood sausage can be quite a delicacy.
What is Polish blood sausage made out of?
One of the key ingredients in Polish blood sausage, also called Kaszanka or Kishka, is fresh pig’s blood. That’s not the only ingredient, however – the natural casing (made out of a pig’s intestine) is filled with a mixture of pork blood, pork offal (most often liver), and buckwheat or barley, as well as some herbs and spices (garlic, marjoram, salt, pepper, and others).
There are many varieties of this famous Polish sausage – each region has its own way of preparing Kaszanka. Apart from using different ingredients, the sausage is prepared in a range of ways as well – most often baked, grilled, or fried.
What does Polish blood sausage taste like?
Well-prepared Kaszanka can be delicious, served with a side of roasted potatoes and sauerkraut, or simply eaten with bread and mustard. Depending on the ingredients, each kishka might taste slightly different. In general, the sausage is quite savory, a little sweet, and has a stuffing-like texture.
Since Kaszanka can be prepared in a whole range of ways, its taste will vary depending on how you cook it. There are more sophisticated varieties, like oven-baked kaszanka with apples and sliced onion, but kishka is often simply tossed on a grill or a roasting pan with some onions, making for a tasty and simple meal.
What’s the difference between Kishka and Kaszanka?
There are many ways to name the Polish blood sausage – many regions have their own names for this famous dish. Kaszanka and Kishka are most often used interchangeably, with both meaning any type of Polish blood sausage. There is also a potato kishka, which is its own separate dish – a pig’s intestine filled with potatoes and pork meat (most often pork belly).
What ingredients do I need to prepare Kishka/Kaszanka?
The main ingredient you’ll need to prepare any kind of Kaszanka is the blood sausage itself. Making one by yourself isn’t a simple process, and finding a good-quality one in a store shouldn’t be too difficult. If you’re in Poland, you can find Kaszanka sausages in most grocery shops, but if you want the best quality, go to a local butcher instead.
If you’re from outside of Poland, finding a good blood sausage might be a bit more difficult. The best places to look for it are Polish and international cuisine stores – look for names like Kaszanka, Kishka, and Polish Blood Sausage. You might have an easier time finding a German blood sausage, but consider that they taste very different to the Polish ones.
3 ways to prepare Polish blood sausage
We mentioned there are many ways to prepare a Polish blood sausage – let’s take a closer look at three of them that are considered by Poles to be the tastiest:
Grilled Kaszanka/Kishka
The simplest solution is often the correct one. One of the most common ways of preparing Kaszanka in Poland is by simply grilling it. You can place it on a grilling tray with some onions and move it around from time to time – it’ll make for a very tasty dish, served with mustard and freshly baked bread. Increase the heat slowly – don’t toss the sausages on top of a roaring fire or you’ll burn the onions.
Oven-baked blood sausage with apples and onions
If you want to be more fancy about preparing your blood sausages, you can bake them in an oven with some apples and sliced onions. Peel and slice two red onions, cut two apples into medium chunks, and caramelize them together on a frying pan with a spoon of butter, on medium heat. Add some cinnamon, cumin, and dried fennel (optionally salt and pepper as well). Pre-heat oven to 390°F (200°C).
Once the mixture simmers for a few minutes, place it together with Kaszanka and some grated horseradish in aluminum foil. You can cut the Polish blood sausage into pieces, or just slice them diagonally across the top. Close the foil and bake it in an oven-proof dish for about 15-20 minutes at 390°F (200°C).
Sautéd Kaszanka with caramelized onions
When you can’t think of anything creative for dinner, a fried kaszanka with caramelized onions is a quick, simple, and satisfying dish to make. Slice the onions into thin pieces and sauté them in butter on a frying pan until caramelized. Add the blood sausage to the pan – just like before, you can slice it into pieces or cut diagonally. Fry the mix for a couple of minutes on low heat (you can add some salt and pepper as well) and serve it with bread and mustard or horseradish, or even a fried egg.
FAQ: Common questions about Kaszanka/Kishka
Is Polish blood sausage healthy?
Traditional Polish blood sausage, prepared from the highest quality ingredients, can be a nutritious meal full of essential microelements like highly bioavailable heme iron and zinc. The addition of buckwheat or barley makes the dish a great source of phosphorus, copper, potassium, as well as vitamin B and plenty of fiber. If you’re cooking store-bought kaszanka, check the nutrition information to make sure you’re getting a quality product.
On the other hand, Polish blood sausage contains a lot of meat and animal fats and eating it frequently might increase LDL cholesterol levels. People with heart diseases or hypercholesterolemia should also avoid eating Kaszanka too often.
How long do you fry blood sausage?
If you’re preparing cooked kaszanka whole, you can grill it with some butter and onions for four minutes on each side. This is the quickest and simplest way of preparing kaszanka – ready to eat after a couple minutes. Serve with mustard or horseradish with a side of bread for the best experience.
How to grill kaszanka the right way?
Place the kaszanka together with some onions in a grill dish on the coolest spot of the grill. Add some salt and butter, stir, and wait for the grill to become hot. Cook it for about 20 minutes – both the meat and the onions should be properly cooked by then. Serve while the food is still hot.
How do you know when blood sausage is done?
If you’re grilling your blood sausage whole, it will slowly start oozing out as it cooks. If the insides are oozing out and the skin has started to brown, your blood sausage is ready. When cooking on a frying pan a blood sausage that’s been cut into slices, you can let it get a little crispy for some extra texture. There’s a variety of recipes for cooked kaszanka, and depending on which recipe you use, the signs of the sausage being ready might be a little different.
