Kotlet Schabowy is similar to the well know Viennese Schnitzel or Wiener Schnitzel except we’re using pork rather than veal. Poles use the same technique with chicken or turkey breast, pound the meat into thin steaks, dredge in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before frying to create delicious main dishes.
Use beef and you have something like the American chicken fried steak. Pounding the meat until it’s thin, tenderizes it and ensures that it cooks quickly, giving you a moist piece of meat in a crispy coating.
If you have time, you might marinate the pork in milk and sliced onions for two hours as famous Polish chef Magda Geslar does.
During the first year, Ed lived in Poland while I was still working in the US. When we talked via Skype, he often mentioned that someone downstairs seemed to have a carpentry shop in the flat. He would often come home and hear someone hammering away.
He assumed they were making furniture. It wasn’t until I moved to Poland and began making Kotlet Schabowy, that he realized the pounding sound was probably coming from the neighbors’ kitchen, not a woodshop.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve Kotlet Schabowy with Mizeria, sautéed mushrooms, or with potato salad, or mashed or boiled potatoes. Sometimes, I’ll make a gravy with sautéed red bell pepper slices, heavily seasoned with black pepper to serve over the top, inspiration taken from a road trip meal.
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How every you serve it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Kotlet Schabowy.
Smacznego!
Lois
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Kotlet Schabowy (Polish Pork Cutlet)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
Thin tenderized pork with a crispy coating
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops
- salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup oil, more if needed
Instructions
- Place pork chops on a cutting board and pound them flat, about 1/4 inch thick (they’ll be twice as big after the pounding)
- Season the flattened chops with salt and pepper
- Set up three plates, put flour in the first, beaten eggs, in the second, and breadcrumbs in the third
- Dredge the first cutlet with flour, then dip both sides in egg, then bread crumbs
- Set aside and repeat with the three remaining cutlets
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat
- Add cutlets to the pan without crowding, it may take more than one batch
- Cook about 5 minutes and then turn to cook the other side
Notes
It will be delicious either way, but you may like to marinade the thin pork pieces in milk with sliced onion for two hours.
Don’t toss dry, stale bread. Blitz it in the food processor to make your own breadcrumbs, or you can grate the dry bread for the same result.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Geri Gribben
Would like to make the Honey Vodka just back from Poland and can not find the spice Allspice Berry. Can you please let me know where to purchase this spice.
polishhousewife
Hi Geri, you may see it in your supermarket labeled as whole allspice. Otherwise, it is available in small to large quantity on Amazon, link follows. It’s used in a lot of Polish recipes. http://amzn.to/2r5qHsg
Laurel
Yummo!
polishhousewife
Thanks, Laurel!
David
I love schnitzel of all kinds! In fact, pork schnitzel is very popular in southern Germany! Bookmarked for future cooking!
Kim
I’ve made this a zillion times not knowing it was Polish! Can someone tell me how to pronounce it in Polish?
Kim
I”m sad because it wouldn’t let me press the button that will alert me via email that someone replied to this.
polishhousewife
Bummer! 🙁 but fixing it is beyond me.
polishhousewife
It’s something like KOT-let s-ha-BO-vay
Kermit
KOT-let s-ka-BO-vi (short “i,” as in “kiss”
The “o” in “kot” is long, like “coat”, the “o” in “bo” too.
Gift Masoja
Am going to one just now
Władysław Łoś
For a true, traditional “kotlet schabowy” (though its tradition is rather of a recent origin) one should use a pork loin with a bone. It should also be fried on lard, not oil.