Culinary Explorer
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Frijoles Colados Oaxaqueños
Created by Chef Lupita
Valles Centrales black beans, simmered with hoja de aguacate, strained until satin-smooth, then fried in asiento or pork lard so they spread cleanly across memelas, tlayudas, and enfrijoladas.
Oaxaca, especially the Valles Centrales, is where these frijoles live: on memelas at the Tlacolula market, under quesillo on a tlayuda in Oaxaca de Juárez, folded into enfrijoladas in kitchens from Etla to Ocotlán. They are black beans, yes, but not any pot of black beans. The hoja de aguacate tells you where you are.
The leaf must be dried Mexican avocado leaf, toasted until it smells faintly of anise. The chile is chile de árbol, just enough to sharpen the bean, not to bully it. The fat is asiento oaxaqueño if you can get it, or manteca de cerdo if you can't. Vegetable oil makes a paste, not this paste. La manteca es el sabor.
The women who work the comales before dawn know the texture by the drag of the spoon: smooth, glossy, thick enough to cling to a tortilla without tearing it. That texture comes from straining. Blender alone is not enough. Colados means passed through, skins left behind, patience in the bowl. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and Oaxaca puts its avocado leaf right where you can taste it.
Ingredients
dried frijol negro criollo or dried black beans
Quantity
1 pound
sorted and rinsed
water
Quantity
10 cups, plus more as needed
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
left whole
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried frijol negro criollo or dried black beanssorted and rinsed | 1 pound |
| water | 10 cups, plus more as needed |
| white onionleft whole | 1/2 medium |
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