Jota

Ingredients

Beans

• 300 gdried borlotti beans
• water, for soaking
• 1bay leaf

Sour element

• 500 gsauerkraut, or sour turnip
• the liquid from the jar, reserved

Pork

• 400 gsmoked pork ribs
• 150 gsmoked bacon or pancetta, in one piece
• 1smoked sausage, if wanted

Base

• 3 tbsplard or oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 1 tsppaprika
• 1 tspcaraway seeds
• 2bay leaves
• black pepper

Potatoes

• 400 gfloury potatoes, in chunks

To serve

• dark bread

Directions

1. Rinse the dried beans and pick over them for stones. Cover them with plenty of cold water and leave them overnight. Drain them the next day and discard the soaking water. Put them in a pot with fresh water and a bay leaf.
2. Bring them to the boil and boil hard for ten minutes. Lower the heat and simmer them for about an hour until tender. Drain them but keep the cooking liquid, which is used in the stew. Put the smoked ribs and the piece of bacon in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer them gently for an hour until the meat loosens from the bone. Skim off the fat that rises if there is a great deal. Lift the meat out and keep the broth. Pull the rib meat off the bones and chop the bacon. Now the sauerkraut, which needs judging. Taste the sauerkraut straight from the jar. If it is fiercely sour, rinse it briefly and squeeze it out.
4. Chop it roughly if the strands are very long. The sourness is meant to carry the dish, so do not wash all of it away. Melt the lard in a small pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook it for eight minutes until soft.
5. Add the garlic and cook it for a minute. Stir in the flour and cook the roux for three minutes. Let it turn light brown, which gives the stew its colour. Take it off the heat and stir in the paprika. Adding paprika off the heat stops it turning bitter. Put the pork broth back on the heat. Add the sauerkraut, the caraway seeds and the bay leaves.
6. Simmer the pot for twenty minutes. Add the potato chunks and cook for fifteen minutes more. Add the cooked beans with some of their liquid. Add the chopped pork and the sausage if you are using it. Now thickening it, which needs care. Whisk it smooth before it goes anywhere near the pot. Stir the loosened roux into the stew.
7. Simmer it for fifteen minutes, stirring, until it thickens. Now judging the consistency, which should be thick. Mash a few of the potatoes against the side to thicken it further. Loosen it with bean liquid if it has gone too stiff. Season it with black pepper and taste for salt. Take it off the heat and let it stand for at least twenty minutes. Serve it very hot in deep bowls with dark bread.

Technique

• Boil the soaked beans hard for ten minutes, which deals with the lectins.
• Taste the sauerkraut and rinse it only if it is fiercely sour.
• Taste before salting, since smoked pork brings a great deal of its own.

Substitutions

• Sour turnip in place of sauerkraut, which is the older Slovenian version.
• Tinned borlotti beans, added at the end, if you are short of time.

Variations

• Made with sour turnip, as kisla repa jota.
• Without meat, for fasting days.
• The Trieste version, often looser and with more potato.

History

Sour-turnip or sauerkraut stew with beans and pork, shared with the Italian Karst and Trieste, where it goes by the same name.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jota?

Jota is a soup & stew from Slovenia: sauerkraut, bean and potato stew with smoked pork. Sour-turnip or sauerkraut stew with beans and pork, shared with the Italian Karst and Trieste, where it goes by the same name.

How long does Jota take to make?

Jota takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hours 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Jota?

Yes, within limits. Sour turnip in place of sauerkraut, which is the older Slovenian version. Tinned borlotti beans, added at the end, if you are short of time.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jota?

Chop it roughly if the strands are very long. The sourness is meant to carry the dish, so do not wash all of it away. Melt the lard in a small pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook it for eight minutes until soft.