CJ’s Pinto Bean Soup

When I first arrived to Felipe Carrillo Puerto from the UK, I was delighted by the variety of new and delicious local dishes to sample. The cuisine in the Yucatán Peninsula is an exciting fusion of nationally popular Mexican dishes and regional specialties drawn from Maya and Caribbean culinary traditions. As a keen cook, expanding my kitchen repertoire to include Mexican food has been a highlight of my time here. While dishes like mole, cochinita pibil, and of course authentic tacos are among my go to orders when visiting local restaurants, I have also enjoyed learning how people here take simple ingredients such as beans to make tasty and cost effective home cooked meals for the whole family.

A wide variety of beans, or frijoles, are used in cooking throughout Mexico, and a shopping trip can leave you confronted with a dizzying area of options, from the ubiquitous black beans through to frijoles peruanos. One of my go to home recipes, a hearty warming bean soup, features one of the more common beans: frijoles pintos. These are sometimes labeled as frijoles bayos, although bayos is used to refer to either a specific bean or just light colored beans in general depending on where you are in Mexico. Pinto beans are commonly associated with the north of the country, while thinner skinned bayos are popular around Mexico City. Either bean will work in the recipe as they have a similar flavor, using bayos will result in a creamier flavor and texture.

I love this recipe because it is easy to make, uses simple low cost ingredients and makes a satisfying tasty lunch! It has the added bonuses of being a great healthy source of protein and also being endlessly customisable. It is easy to make vegetarian or even vegan without losing any of the rich flavor.

INGREDIENTS

1kg (2.2lb) of dried pinto or bayo beans, presoaked*

1 white onion - roughly chopped

2 large tomatoes - roughly chopped

1 head of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 lime - juiced

4 habanero chiles - roughly chopped

1 tablespoons of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of white pepper

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and black pepper to taste

*The dried beans should be soaked for 8 to 12 hours overnight, with the water changed part way through and poured away at the end with fresh water used for cooking. This helps maintain a clean taste to the bean, and also helps with digestion!

METHOD

Cover the presoaked beans with water in a large pan and bring to boil, reduce to simmer and leave to cook for around 70 minutes.

While the beans are cooking, chop the vegetables, and after the 70 minutes are reached add the onion, tomatoes, garlic and chiles to the beans (the number of chiles can be varied to meet your personal preference). 

Bring everything back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for a further hour.

At this point check that the beans are soft. Once they are cooked, remove from the heat and blend, preferably with an immersion blender, to combine the beans and the vegetables. 

The mixture should not be too thick, and should resemble a soup rather than refried beans without being fully blended. A few remaining whole beans may be left over, helping to add a little texture to the soup. If it is too thick add more water and continue to blend until desired consistency is achieved. 

Add the lime juice and spices and butter and stir through. If you want the recipe to be vegan, olive oil can be substituted for the butter. 

Add further seasoning to taste.

The soup will keep for several days in the fridge, although you may need to add more water if reheating.

If you would like to add meat, pre-fried and chopped bacon is a great addition. It is also possible to try substituting other light colored beans such as peruanos or mayocoba or even a combination! 

Serve with fresh corn tortillas and enjoy!

For more delicious Mexican and Maya recipes, check out our monthly blogs. If you want to try regional homemade cuisine in authentic setting, a Na’atik Immersion Experience gives you the opportunity to live with a Mexican family and enjoy the unique delicious flavours of Quintana Roo.