Akhuni

Soybeans boiled soft but left whole, then fermented until they smell.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 kg dried soybeans
• banana leaves, to line and cover

Method

1. SOYBEANS ARE BOILED SOFT BUT LEFT WHOLE, THEN FERMENTED UNTIL THEY SMELL. Its article gives the first half exactly: axone IS PREPARED BY RINSING PICKED SOYBEANS IN FRESH WATER, AND THEN BOILING THEM UNTIL THEY ARE SOFT, BUT STILL WHOLE. THE EXCESS WATER IS DRAINED AND THE SOYBEANS ARE PLACED INTO A POT OR DEGCHI. Soft but whole is the instruction that matters: mashed beans ferment into a paste and the thing wanted here is a bean that still has a skin.
2. AND THE SECOND HALF IS IN THE NAME. The article takes axone from the Sumi language: AXO MEANS 'AROMA' OR 'SMELL' AND NE OR NHE MEANS 'DEEP' OR 'STRONG', so the word LITERALLY TRANSLATES AS 'DEEP SMELL' OR 'STRONG SMELL'. A food whose name is how strongly it smells is telling you what the ferment is for.
3. RINSE THE BEANS AND BOIL THEM UNTIL A BEAN CRUSHES BETWEEN FINGER AND THUMB. Two hours or so after an overnight soak. Drain them completely -- standing water turns the ferment sour rather than savoury.
4. LINE A POT WITH BANANA LEAVES AND PACK THE WARM BEANS IN. Warm, not hot. Cover them with more leaves and weight them down.
5. LEAVE IT SOMEWHERE WARM FOR THREE TO FIVE DAYS. The article notes the pot is left out, and that the beans are prepared year-round by all the tribes but most notably the Sumi Nagas of Nagaland. A white bloom and a powerful smell are what you are waiting for.
6. IT WILL SMELL LONG BEFORE IT IS READY, AND THAT IS NOT A FAULT. This is the point of the ingredient. Ferment it somewhere that is not the kitchen.
7. THEN USE IT WHOLE, OR POUND IT, OR DRY IT. Whole beans go into a pork stew; pounded to a paste it is wrapped in leaves and smoked, and keeps for months.
8. AND THE ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHY IT EXISTS AT ALL. Soybeans GROW AT AN ALTITUDE OF 1,500 M AND IN RAINY CONDITIONS, MAKING THEM WELL SUITED FOR THE NAGA HILLS, and it calls them A PROTEIN-RICH LEGUME in a diet that is otherwise short of protein.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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