Hispanic Heritage · Colombia

Medellín y Antioquia

Medellín · Envigado · Itagüí · Bello · Sabaneta · Rionegro

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Frisoles antioqueños con garra

Descubre

Antioquia’s bean pot brings red beans, pork, and vegetables together with a long simmer. Frisoles antioqueños con garra offers a starting point for exploring a meal in which the beans are fully worthy of the center of the table.

La Gente

Some vegetables soften into the broth and help thicken it naturally. Add the hogao as directed, then taste before seasoning again. Rice, avocado, and a small arepa make different companions for the same generous pot.

Sabor

Paisa food is salt, pork fat, cumin, and the sweetness that a green plantain and a carrot give a pot of beans when they have been in it for two hours. There is almost no heat and almost no acid. The hogao does the seasoning at the table, and the avocado does the rest.

Spice DNA · Sweet low · Herb low · Smoke medium · Heat none · Acid low

Seasonings to explore

Cumin, ground. In the beans and in the hogao. Paisa food without cumin is somebody else's food.
Sazón with Coriander and Annatto. The closest jar to Colombian color, for the hogao.
Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the pot and in the hogao. Adds a savory garlic base.
Onion Powder. With the garlic.
Bay leaves, whole. One in the beans.
Thyme leaves. A pinch in the beans, which some families do and some do not.
Black Pepper, ground. Lightly.

Badia does not sell the cargamanto. Look for the bag with the red-streaked beans.

Cocina

Frisoles antioqueños con garra

The bean pot of the mountains. This is dinner in Antioquia. Make the hogao while the beans finish and leave it on the table.

Serves 6

The beans

1 lb cargamanto or pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 pig's foot, split, or 8 oz pork skin (garra) cut in pieces
1 green plantain, peeled and grated or cut in small chunks
1 carrot, grated
1 tsp Badia Cumin, ground
1 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil
½ tsp Badia Onion Powder
1 Badia Bay Leaf, whole
¼ tsp Badia Thyme leaves
¼ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
Salt

The hogao

2 tbsp oil
1 bunch green onions, chopped, whites and greens
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 1 garlic clove minced
½ tsp Badia Cumin, ground
½ tsp Badia Sazón with Coriander and Annatto
Salt
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Start the pot. Drain the soaked beans. Put them in a large pot with the pig's foot or pork skin and enough water to cover by three inches. Bring to a boil, skim, then lower to a steady simmer. Add the bay leaf and thyme. Cook 1 hour, partly covered.
The plantain and carrot. Add the grated plantain and carrot. They will disappear into the pot over the next hour and thicken the broth without flour. Add the cumin, minced garlic, onion powder, and pepper. Simmer 1 hour more, until the beans are soft and the broth is thick and the pork is falling apart. Add water if it drops below the beans. Salt at the end.
The hogao. While the beans finish, warm the oil over medium. Cook the green onions until soft, add the tomatoes, garlic, cumin, and sazón, and cook down 10 to 15 minutes into a loose orange sauce. Salt. Cilantro at the end.
Serve. Beans in a bowl with a piece of the pork, a spoon of hogao on top, white rice beside, a paisa arepa, and half an avocado. The rest of the hogao goes on the table in its pan.
If you want the tray. Add carne en polvo or a thin grilled steak, a piece of chicharrón, a chorizo, a fried egg on top of the rice, sweet plantain, and a slice of tomato. Find a bigger plate. That is the bandeja, and now you know where it came from.

Pueblos de Medellín, Antioquia y el Eje

Medellín · Envigado · Itagüí · Bello · Sabaneta · Rionegro · Marinilla · El Retiro · Guatapé · Santa Fe de Antioquia · Jericó · Jardín · Sonsón · Andes · Urrao · Yarumal · Santa Rosa de Osos · Manizales · Pereira · Armenia · Salento · Chinchiná · Santa Rosa de Cabal