The Andes · Volume 21, Colombia, the Andean Interior
Frijoles antioqueños
Antioquia, Colombia
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- Hands on 2 hours · Waiting 8 hours
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Frijoles antioqueños
About 2 hours, plus overnight soaking.
Ingredients
- 500g dried cargamanto beans
- 1, large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tomato, diced
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper salt and pepper
- 1 thyme sprig
- 1 bay leaf
- as available ripe plantain and carrot, to blend in (regional variant)
Method
- Soak the dried cargamanto beans in cold water at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain, cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer covered for 1 to 2 hours until tender.
- Separately build the hogao: sauté the onion to translucent, add the garlic for a minute, then add the diced tomato with cumin, salt and pepper, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until thickened.
- Stir the hogao, thyme sprig and bay leaf into the cooked beans and simmer a further 15 minutes.
- In a regional variant, blend ripe plantain and carrot into the pot itself for extra depth.
What a modern chef changes
Blended Hogao, Concentrated Sweetness
Method
- Build the hogao in a high-power blender once the tomato has broken down.
- Pass the hogao through a chinois before it goes anywhere near the beans, for a smoother, more concentrated base than a hand-stirred pan gives.
- Cook the beans themselves exactly as tradition sets out, with a long, unhurried simmer.
- Dehydrate the ripe plantain and carrot separately before blending them into the finishing stage, concentrating their natural sugars.