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ROUSES.COM
29
Ecuadorian
Red Beans & Rice
Makes 4-6 servings
These are somewhat similar to our local
version, but there’s no meat in the beans,
and the rice is cooked Ecuadorian- style
(with olive oil). Serve with chorizo, a spicy
pork or beef sausage seasoned with vinegar
and chili peppers, pork, beef, or a fried egg.
Top with slices of fresh avocado.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1
pound red dry beans
2
tablespoons Rouses Extra Virgin olive oil
2
large onions, diced
6
garlic cloves, minced
Rouses salt and black pepper to taste
2
tomatoes, peeled and diced
Cilantro, minced
2
tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Sliced avocado
FOR THE RICE:
2
cups of Rouses long grain white rice,
uncooked
2
tablespoons Rouses Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2
tablespoons minced or finely chopped
white onions
¼ teaspoon Rouses salt
HOW TO PREP
Soak dry beans overnight in 10 cups of water.
Drain and rinse.
Place the beans in a large cast iron pot or
Dutch oven and cover with 6 cups of plain
water. Cook over medium heat until tender,
about 90 minutes.
In a small saucepan heat olive oil over
medium heat. Add the onions and cook
until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the
garlic and cook for 1minute. Add the diced
tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Cook until tomatoes are soft.
Transfer the tomato mixture to the pot of
beans. Add cilantro and vinegar and reduce
heat to a simmer. Serve with rice and sliced
avocado.
FOR THE RICE:
In medium size saucepan, heat the olive oil
over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions
and cook until translucent and fragrant, about
2 minutes. Stir in the dry rice, mixing to make
sure it is completely coated. Add 3 cups of
water and bring it to a boil. Let the rice cook
until the water reduces and barely covers
the rice. Place a lid on the pot and continue
cooking on low for 20 minutes.
R
ed beans and rice, or rice and beans as the pair is more commonly referred to around
the world, are a match made in heaven. In some Spanish speaking countries like
El
Salvador
and
Honduras
, rice and beans are so tightly bound, they’re referred to as
casamiento
, which is the Spanish word for marriage. In El Salvador, marriage comes with a
side of fried plantains and sweet cream.
In
Nicaragua
beans and rice are called
asgallopinto
, or red rooster, a nod to the red-and-
white coloring of the island’s roosters (think of your great aunt calling mirlitons alligator
pears because of their rippled skin). In
Costa Rica
, beans and rice are referred to as “spotted
rooster,” which may be even more apt than red rooster — Caribbean and Latin American
versions of rice and beans tend to feature smaller kidney beans (spots) and a lot more rice
than we’re used to here on the Gulf Coast.
In
India
, they eat
Rajmah Chawal
, a rustic red bean curry, which is also served with rice,
usually basmati.The beans are cooked with onions, garlic, ginger and crushed tomatoes, and
flavored with garam masala, an Indian spice blend.
Red beans and rice are also the main ingredients in Waakye, a popular street food in
Ghana
and
Ivory Coast
usually eaten for breakfast and lunch (the dish has a long tradition). Beans
are soaked and cooked in plain water, then with dry sorghum leaves or baking soda. Rice
is added to the pot about 20 minutes before serving. Cooking rice and beans together is a
common practice around the world.
Rice and beans history on this side of the world is directly related to Africa. West African
slaves brought their tradition of Waakye to
Jamaica
, where red beans were replaced by
tropical pigeon peas, which are actually beans, but let’s not quibble. Pigeon peas and rice are
cooked together in coconut milk (the ratio is at least three to one rice to beans).
Substitute black-eyed peas for pigeon peas for a Gulf Coast version of the dish.
Finally, there’s
Brazil
, the largest consumer and producer of legumes in the world
(3.5 million tons are harvested every year). Naturally
arroz com feijão
— rice and
beans — are popular. Brazilians typically eat
Feijão carioca
or
carioquinha
, which
are similar to pinto beans (so they’re reddish). But black beans are the main
component of the national dish,
feijoada
, a hearty beef-pork-bean stew served
with, what else, rice. Every Brazillian has his or her own way of making this dish
— sounds like us on the Gulf Coast with red beans and rice.
Around the World :
BEANS & RICE
Pickapeppa,
a lightly sweet sauce produced in Shooter’s Hill in Manchester,
Jamaica, is a blend of tomatoes, onions, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes, raisins,
tamarind, peppers and spices. It’s as popular on the Gulf Coast as it is in Jamaica.
BEANS & RICE