Ensalada de Ibes Yucateca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot for cooking the beans
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting oregano
• •Glass jar or non-reactive bowl for the cured red onion
• •Sheet pan for cooling the beans
• •Wide ceramic serving bowl, ideally Ticul-red glazed clay or Campeche talavera

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the ibes

   The night before, place the dried ibes in a large bowl and cover with cold water by three inches. Leave them on the counter for eight to twelve hours. Skip the soak and the skins will burst before the centers turn tender. The ibe is a delicate bean, thinner-skinned than alubia or peruano, and it does not forgive shortcuts. No me vengas con atajos.

   Good ibes are pale ivory with a faint blush. If yours are gray or shriveled, they are old and they will never cook tender. Buy from a vendor whose beans turn over.
2. 2

   Cook the beans low

   Drain the ibes and transfer them to a heavy pot. Cover with fresh cold water by two inches. Add the halved white onion, the smashed garlic, and the epazote sprigs. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the foam in the first ten minutes. Lower the heat until the water moves with lazy bubbles, partially cover, and cook for 50 to 70 minutes. The bean is done when it crushes between your fingers without resistance but still holds its oval shape on the spoon. Add salt only in the last fifteen minutes. Salt early and the skins toughen.

3. 3

   Cure the red onion

   While the beans cook, place the paper-thin red onion slices in a small glass jar or bowl. Pour the naranja agria juice over them with a pinch of salt. Press them down so they sit in the citrus. Leave them for at least twenty minutes. The onion turns from purple to bright pink and the bite mellows. This is the cebolla morada en escabeche that anchors every Yucatecan table from Merida to Tizimin. The pink color comes from the citrus reacting with the anthocyanins in the onion. It is not optional.

4. 4

   Drain and cool the beans

   Once the ibes are tender, lift them out of their cooking liquid with a slotted spoon and spread them on a sheet pan to cool to room temperature. Reserve the cooking liquid. A salad needs the beans dry, not swimming. Discard the spent onion, garlic, and epazote sprigs. If the beans look thirsty as they cool, sprinkle a tablespoon or two of the cooking liquid back over them to keep them plump.

5. 5

   Toast the oregano

   Heat a dry comal over medium-low. Place the dried Yucatecan oregano in your palm, rub it between your hands to break it up, and scatter it on the comal. Toast for fifteen to twenty seconds, no more, swirling the comal until the oregano releases its perfume. Yucatecan oregano is its own herb, lemony and resinous, not the Mediterranean kind. If you cannot find it, Mexican oregano is the right substitute. Italian oregano is wrong for this dish.

   Burned oregano turns acrid and there is no rescuing the salad after that. Pull it off the comal the moment you smell it bloom.
6. 6

   Build the salad

   In a wide bowl, combine the cooled ibes, the sliced radishes, the chopped cilantro, the diced tomato, and the minced habanero. Lift the pink onion out of its citrus brine with a fork and add it to the bowl, but do not pour the brine in yet. Drizzle the olive oil over everything and crumble the toasted oregano on top. Toss gently with your hands. Beans break when you stir them with a spoon.

7. 7

   Dress and rest

   Now add three to four tablespoons of the reserved citrus brine from the onions. Taste. The salad should be bright and sour-forward, with the citrus carrying the dish the way vinegar would carry a salad in another country. Add flaky salt to finish. Let the salad sit for ten minutes at room temperature before serving, so the beans drink the naranja agria. Serve with tostadas or warm corn tortillas. This is how it lands on a Merida courtyard table at two in the afternoon. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •True ibes are sold at Yucatecan tienditas and specialty Mexican grocers, and increasingly online. Dried baby lima beans from a grocery store are a reasonable substitute but they will cook faster, check them at the 40-minute mark. Frozen lima beans are not the same dish.
• •Naranja agria can be found bottled in Mexican groceries, but bottled is a last resort. If you can find fresh sour orange, sometimes labeled bitter orange or Seville orange, use it. The blend of two parts lime to one part sweet orange juice is the practical fallback in cold climates.
• •The habanero is the chile of Yucatan. Do not swap it for jalapeno or serrano. If the heat scares you, mince a quarter of one and leave it on a side plate with the rest sliced. Yucatecan tables let each diner adjust their own.
• •Yucatecan oregano (Lippia graveolens grown in the peninsula) tastes different from the Mexican oregano of the central states, but if you cannot find it, Mexican oregano is the right substitute. Italian or Mediterranean oregano is wrong for this dish and will give you a flavor that belongs to another cuisine.

Advance Preparation

• •The ibes can be cooked one day ahead, cooled completely, and refrigerated in a little of their cooking liquid. Drain and bring to room temperature before dressing.
• •The cebolla morada en escabeche keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week and only improves. Keep a jar in the fridge for tacos, eggs, panuchos, and salbutes.
• •Build the salad no more than one hour before serving. The radish and cilantro lose their snap if they sit dressed for too long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)