Borracho Beans

Beer in place of some of the water, added early enough to lose its rawness and cook its bitterness out.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 450 g dried pinto beans
• 1.3 litres water
• 660 ml lager, two bottles
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 200 g streaky bacon, chopped
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt, at the end

Method

1. THE BEER GOES IN EARLY ENOUGH TO LOSE ITS RAWNESS AND COOK ITS BITTERNESS OUT. Timing is the whole question with this dish and most versions get it wrong by adding the beer at the end for the sake of the name. Beer has hop bitterness and a yeasty raw edge, and both need a long open simmer to go. Two bottles in with the water at the start, and over ninety minutes the alcohol boils off, the bitterness mellows into something closer to malt, and what is left is a slightly darker, slightly sweeter bean broth with a bready note. Poured in during the last twenty minutes, the pot tastes distinctly and unpleasantly of raw beer.
2. IT IS A PLAIN LAGER AND NOT SOMETHING INTERESTING. Hoppy pale ales and IPAs have several times the bitterness, and ninety minutes is not enough to cook that out -- the pot ends up harsh. A dark beer makes the broth almost black and faintly burnt-tasting. An ordinary lager is the one that works and is worth saying plainly.
3. THE POT IS LEFT UNCOVERED FOR THE FIRST HALF HOUR. The alcohol and the volatile bitter compounds need somewhere to go. Covered from the start, they condense on the lid and drip back in, and the beer edge stays.
4. THE PROPORTION IS ABOUT ONE PART BEER TO TWO OF WATER. Two bottles to one and a third litres. All beer and no water gives a pot that is bitter however long it cooks, and beans do not soften properly in it -- there is enough acid in beer to slow them down noticeably.
5. THE SALT STILL WAITS UNTIL THEY ARE SOFT, as in every bean dish here. Beer slows the softening a little on its own; salt as well and the pot can run to two and a half hours.
6. The beans rinsed and put in a heavy pot with the 1.3 litres of water and BOTH bottles of lager. NO SALT.
7. Brought to the boil and simmered UNCOVERED the first 30 MINUTES, so the alcohol and the bitter edge can leave.
8. The bacon fried separately in a dry pan 6 MINUTES until crisp, then the onion, garlic and jalapeños added for 5 minutes and the tomatoes for 8 MINUTES.
9. The panful, FAT INCLUDED, and the oregano tipped into the pot.
10. Simmered a further 1 HOUR, partly covered, topped up with BOILING water only.
11. TESTED: a bean crushed against the pot should give with no chalky centre. If not, another 30 minutes -- beer slows them.
12. TASTED FOR BITTERNESS: it should read malty, not hoppy. If it is still sharp, another 15 minutes uncovered.
13. ONLY NOW the 2 teaspoons of salt stirred in. Left 10 minutes and tasted again.
14. The coriander stirred in off the heat.
15. Served brothy, in bowls, alongside grilled meat.

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.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes