Hello everyone, welcome to Paulina Cocina! Today I want to invite you and invite you to be encouraged to try a Asturian fabada. A pot dish that is very traditional in Spanish cuisine and that is greatly enjoyed on colder days. It is ideal for when we have guests at home and we want to prepare something delicious, but at the same time it is productive.
That’s why today I come to share the traditional Asturian fabada recipealong with a bit of its history and some tips for its preparation.
A bean stew
The Asturian fabada it’s a traditional and emblematic dish of Spanish gastronomy, originally from the Asturias region. It is a stew whose main ingredient is fabes (a type of bean, bean, or large, flat white bean)which are accompanied by other ingredients such as Chorizo, black pudding, pork shoulder, bacon, onion and garlic.
- The appeal of the dish is that it is quite substantial, intense and caloric, for the body, ideal for cold winter days.
What do you need to know before preparing it?
The beans must be soaked the night before and cooking together with the rest of the ingredients requires at least 3 hours. It takes time to prepare, so it is important to be patient when making this recipe. But the reward is worth it, the result is a very tasty and yielding dish.
You may also be interested in seeing 7 infallible tricks so that legumes do not give us gas.
A peasant dish
The history of the Asturian fabada It dates back to the 16th century, when the peasants of Asturias grew fabes, this type of white and flat beans, which were later used to prepare different dishes. These beans, prized for their size and mild flavor, became a staple ingredient in the asturian cuisine.
Initially, fabada was a humble dish that was prepared in the fields to feed Asturian workers and families, but over time and the addition of ingredients, it became a typical and very popular dish in all social classes in Asturias. .
The classic ingredients of fabada
This preparation, which was very basic at the beginning, became more sophisticated, and some ingredients were added that gave it more consistency and, above all, more flavor. Sausages such as chorizo and blood sausage and derivatives such as lacón (a product similar to ham, which is extracted from the front leg of the pig) and bacon (bacon) were added to the bean stew.
These meat products became part of fabada under the name of “companion”which is nothing other than the accompaniment of the beans. Those ingredients were selected according to their availability and the economic possibilities of whoever was preparing it.
How many kinds of fabada are there?
Fabada began to become popular outside of Asturias only in the middle of the 20th century., when some restaurants incorporated typical dishes from the different regions of Spain into their menu. The Asturian fabada quickly gained acceptance in the Spanish public and established itself as a classic that transcended borders, becoming a reference dish not only gastronomically, but also culturally.
The traditional fabada is the one we mentioned above: the stew of fabes with the sausage company; but in some regions of Spain it can be prepared with partridge, rabbit, clams, octopus or cod. Some restaurants even offer vegetarian versions of fabada, using vegetables and fungi (mushrooms) instead of sausages or meats.
Original Asturian fabada recipe
- Yield: 4 portions
- Preparation time: 3 hours
Ingredients
- 500 grams of fabes (beans-white beans)
- 1 large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200 g of bacon or bacon
- 200 g of ham
- 2 Asturian sausages
- 2 Asturian blood sausages
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Agua
How to make Asturian fabada
- The night before preparation, soak the beans for at least 12 hours. Keep in mind that they grow.
- The next day strain the beans, eliminating the water and place in a large pot with cold water over medium heat.
- The bacon, the chorizos, the black pudding and the licón can be added in this step, or they can be defatted in a separate pot, boiling them for about 10 minutes. This reduces the percentage of fat in the dish.
- When the beans start to boil, lower the heat and add the sausages, along with the whole peeled onion, the garlic cloves and the bay leaves. Season to taste, taking into account that the sausages add salt. Remove the foam that eventually forms.
- Cook over low heat for around 3 hours, until the beans are tender. To prevent the beans from breaking, they can be “scared” by throwing a little cold water at certain times during cooking.
- Besides, you can prepare a sauce with a little olive oil and a tablespoon of paprika, taking care not to burn it. The sauce can be added to the pot or put a spoonful on each plate when serving the fabada.
- Once the fabada is ready, let it rest so that it “settles”. It is also recommended to eat it a few hours later, or even the next day.
- Serve with a good piece of bread and an Asturian cider for a complete experience!
Source: www.paulinacocina.net
