Frijoles negros

Ingredients

Beans

• 500 gdried black beans, soaked overnight
• 2 litreswater
• 1green pepper, halved
• 2bay leaves

Sofrito

• 100 mlolive oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 1green pepper, finely chopped
• 6 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 2 tspground cumin
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspsugar

To finish

• 2 tbspwhite vinegar
• 100 mldry white wine, optional
• salt

To serve

• white rice
• raw onion

Directions

1. Soak the beans overnight with a halved green pepper in the water. The pepper goes in with the soak and stays through the cooking, which is standard practice in Cuban kitchens.
2. Bring the beans to the boil in their soaking water with the bay leaves, then simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes until soft.
3. Do not salt them until they are soft. Salt added early keeps the skins stubbornly tough.
4. Meanwhile make the sofrito: soften the onion, green pepper and garlic in the olive oil over a low heat for a full 15 minutes.
5. Take it slowly. A sofrito rushed over high heat browns rather than melts, and the sweetness that comes out of twenty patient minutes is the base of the whole pot.
6. Add the cumin, oregano and sugar and fry for 2 minutes.
7. Ladle a cupful of cooked beans into the sofrito pan and mash them into it, then return the whole lot to the pot.
8. Mashing some beans into the sofrito before it goes back is what thickens the pot and carries the flavour right through it.
9. Simmer for a further 30 minutes, uncovered, until thick.
10. Add the vinegar and the wine at the end and cook for 5 minutes more.
11. That splash of vinegar is not optional and it goes in last. It lifts a very rich pot, and it is the thing most non-Cuban versions leave out.
12. Season and serve over white rice with raw onion scattered on top.

Technique

• With white rice it forms Cuba’s daily plate, and the leftovers become moros y cristianos when the two are cooked together.
• Cumin in quantity. It is the dominant spice and a timid hand shows immediately.
• It thickens overnight and is better the next day.

Substitutions

• Tinned black beans, with the sofrito made separately and simmered together for 20 minutes.
• Sherry vinegar in place of white, which is rounder.

Variations

• Moros y cristianos, with the rice cooked in the bean liquor.
• With a ham hock simmered in from the start.
• Served as a soup, thinned with more of the cooking liquid.

History

Black beans, slow-cooked with garlic, onion, bell pepper and cumin until thick and richly flavoured, documented across Cuba for many generations as an essential daily staple food, commonly served over white rice as one of the most fundamental combinations in Cuban cooking. Its slow-cooked preparation, allowing the beans to soften fully while the seasoning aromatics infuse throughout the cooking liquid, reflects a broader Latin American and Caribbean tradition of building deep flavour from simple, inexpensive pantry ingredients over an extended cooking time. Frijoles negros remain one of the most essential and universally eaten dishes across Cuban households, forming the base of the ubiquitous rice-and-beans combination central to daily Cuban meals.

Frequently asked questions

What is Frijoles negros?

Frijoles negros is a soup & stew from Cuba: cuban black beans stewed with sofrito. Black beans, slow-cooked with garlic, onion, bell pepper and cumin until thick and richly flavoured, documented across Cuba for many generations as an essential daily staple food, commonly served over white rice as one of the most fundamental combinations in Cuban cooking. Its slow-cooked preparation, allowing the beans to soften fully while the seasoning aromatics infuse throughout the cooking liquid, reflects a broader Latin American and Caribbean tradition of building deep flavour from simple, inexpensive pantry ingredients over an extended cooking time. Frijoles negros remain one of the most essential and universally eaten dishes across Cuban households, forming the base of the ubiquitous rice-and-beans combination central to daily Cuban meals.

How long does Frijoles negros take to make?

Frijoles negros takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Frijoles negros?

Yes, within limits. Tinned black beans, with the sofrito made separately and simmered together for 20 minutes. Sherry vinegar in place of white, which is rounder.

What is the most important thing to get right in Frijoles negros?

Do not salt them until they are soft. Salt added early keeps the skins stubbornly tough.