Frijoles Negros Costeños con Plátano Frito

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Olla de barro or a heavy 6-quart pot
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for the chiles and the plantain
• •Blender for the chile base
• •Wooden spoon for mashing the beans

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort and rinse the beans

   Pour the dried black beans onto a sheet pan and pick through them. There is always a small stone or a shriveled bean hiding in the bag, and one stone can crack a tooth. Rinse them under cold water and drain. Do not soak them. The coastal cooks cook them straight from dry, because the dark broth the beans throw off as they simmer is half the reason to make them.

2. 2

   Start the pot

   Put the beans in an olla de barro or a heavy pot with 8 cups of cold water, one onion half left whole, 2 whole garlic cloves, and 1 tablespoon of the lard. Bring to a boil, then drop to a low simmer. Cover partly and cook for an hour and a half to two and a half hours, depending on how old your beans are. Keep an eye on the level and add hot water any time it drops below the beans. They are done when one crushes easily against the side of the pot and the broth has turned dark and a little thick. Do not salt them yet.

   Old beans can simmer all day and never fully soften. Buy from a store that moves through them and use them within the year. There is nothing you can do at the stove to save a bean that is three years old.
3. 3

   Toast the chile costeño

   While the beans cook, wipe the chiles costeños clean, pull off the stems, and shake out most of the seeds if you want less heat. Toast them on a dry comal over medium heat, just a few seconds a side, pressing them flat with a spatula. They are thin and they burn in a blink, so do not walk away. The moment they smell toasty and darken a shade, pull them off. Cover with hot water, not boiling, and let them soften for 15 minutes.

   Burned chile is bitter chile and there is no fixing it. If one goes black, throw it out and toast another. The costeño is thinner than a guajillo and far less forgiving.
4. 4

   Fry the chile base

   Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of lard in a skillet over medium. Add the diced onion half and cook until soft and golden, about 5 minutes, then add 2 garlic cloves for one minute more. Lift the softened chiles into a blender with the onion, garlic, and 1 cup of the bean broth. Blend until smooth. Pour it back into the skillet and fry for 5 minutes, stirring, until it darkens and smells deep. La manteca es el sabor, and this fried chile base is what turns a plain pot of beans into frijoles costeños.

5. 5

   Finish the beans

   Pour the chile base into the bean pot. Fish out the spent onion and garlic if you like, or leave them in. Add the epazote sprigs, stems and all. Simmer everything together for 20 minutes so the flavors marry. Now salt them, 2 teaspoons to start, then taste. Beans take more salt than you think. If you want them creamier, mash a cup of them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon and stir it back in. Keep them brothy. This is not a refried bean.

   Epazote is not optional here. It is the herb that makes black beans taste like black beans on these coasts, and it settles the stomach too, which is why it has always gone in the pot. Fresh if you can find it. Dried in a pinch, half the amount.
6. 6

   Cook the rice

   Rinse the rice in a few changes of cold water until the water runs clear, then drain it well. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil or lard in a pot, add the rice, and toast it, stirring, until it smells nutty and turns chalky white, about 4 minutes. Add the 1/4 onion and the last garlic clove for the final minute. Pour in 3 cups of hot water, add 1 teaspoon salt, bring to a boil, then cover and drop to the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Pull it off the heat, keep the lid on, and let it rest 10 minutes before you fluff it with a fork.

7. 7

   Fry the plátano macho

   Peel the ripe plátano macho and slice them on the diagonal about a half inch thick. Heat 3 tablespoons of lard in a wide skillet over medium until it shimmers. Lay the slices in a single layer, do not crowd them, and fry until the underside is deep gold and caramelized, 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and do the other side. They should be soft inside and dark and candied at the edges. Drain on a plate and hit them with a pinch of salt. The sugar catches fast once it starts, so the last minute is the one that counts.

   If your plantain is not soft and heavily blackened, it is not ready. A firm yellow one fries up starchy and bland, not sweet. Buy them several days ahead and let them ripen on the counter until they look like you should throw them out. That is exactly when they are right.
8. 8

   Plate it together

   Spoon the brothy beans into a bowl or a deep clay plate. Lay the fried plátano alongside, with a mound of white rice. Some cooks set the plantain right on top of the beans so it soaks up the broth at the edges. Eat it with the rice, a warm corn tortilla, and a squeeze of lime. Saber cocinar es saber vivir, and this plate has kept these coasts fed for centuries on almost nothing.

Chef Tips

• •The chile costeño is the chile of this coast, thin and red and fruity, and it is the one ingredient that makes these beans taste like the Costa Chica and not like beans from anywhere else. Outside Oaxaca and Guerrero you will have to hunt for it. Look in Oaxacan markets or order it dried online. If you truly cannot find it, one guajillo for body and a chile de árbol for heat will get you a decent pot. But know what you are missing: the costeño has a bright, almost fruity edge the guajillo does not. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The plátano macho has to be ripe to the point you would think it is past saving, the skin heavily blackened, soft when you press it. That is sweet. A firm yellow plantain fries up starchy and dull. Buy them four or five days before you need them and let them ripen on the counter. No me vengas con atajos: there is no shortcut to a properly ripe plantain.
• •The traditional pot is built on manteca de cerdo, and on these coasts the frying habit came across the Atlantic with the people who settled here. La manteca es el sabor. If you want this fully vegetarian or vegan, do not reach for butter or some neutral oil. Use aceite de coco, coconut oil. Coco grows all along this coast and belongs in this kitchen, so it keeps the dish honest and keeps it on the map where it was born.
• •Beans are the original economy of this country. Make the whole pound, eat them tonight with the plátano and rice, and they will be even better tomorrow once the chile and epazote have settled in. They keep four or five days in the refrigerator and they freeze well. This is how you feed a family well on almost nothing.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans are better made a day or two ahead. Cook the whole pot, refrigerate, and reheat with a splash of water. The chile and epazote deepen overnight.
• •Fry the plátano macho at the last minute. It is at its best straight out of the fat and turns soft, losing its candied edge, if it sits.
• •Cook the beans without soaking for the richest broth, or soak them overnight if you want to cut up to an hour off the simmer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)