Hungry in Berlin

There are black beans, and black beans.

I haven’t been in Berlin long enough to lose my craving for Mexican and Cuban food yet. Californians, maybe New Yorkers, you’ll know what I mean. Another post entirely will deal with whether the burritos (and thankfully, even nopalitos) are acceptable; but at home, I’m a fan of straight-up black beans and rice. Moros y Cristianos. Boil, spice, throw in some rice, drizzle with olive oil. Delicious.

But it takes black beans. Schwarze Bohnen, you’d think. But it turns out it’s not that simple.

After running through through a supply of beans from home, I went to our local, lovely Asia Markt, where they sell numerous types of beans very inexpensively. One package was labeled “Black Bean,” and in German, “Schwarze Bohnen,” and to the untutored eye, the contents looked almost exactly like ordinary, Mexican black beans. The French “Soja Noir” was a tipoff that something was wrong, but lets ignore that for a moment.

I’ve had and cooked with enough Chinese black beans to suspect a difference of some kind. But I wasn’t sure. I did a little research, and found this page , which confirmed my suspicion. Asian black beans are soybeans, but (as I’ve typically used them) are often found preserved in salt or fermented.

Mexican black beans, also called Black Turtle Beans, are what’s called a “haricot bean,” a group that includes the familiar green bean, kidney beans, and many others.

So, fine, I figured, they’re different, end of story. But then I found this page, which says black soy beans are a good alternative to higher-carb beans, with plenty of good protein and fiber, and can be used as refried beans, black beans, and so on.

Naturally, I had to try them.

Turns out the black soy beans aren’t a terrible substitute, but they’re definitely not perfect. First thing to understand is that they take roughly an eternity to cook. We soaked them overnight, and then cooked them on a low boil for the same 90 minutes to two hours we use for regular black beans. They give off an extraordinarily vegetal smell, almost a little swampy. After two hours of even a strong boil, they weren’t even close to being done.

Another two and a half hours later, for a total of nearly five hours of boiling, we gave up, added the spices and rice, and tried them out. They offered a roughly similar taste, but not nearly as rich or creamy as a turtle bean. Nor were they, even five hours plus rice-cooking time later, as soft.

Luckily, real black beans turned out to be easy to come by. At our local bio store I found a bag labeled Schwarze Bohnen. Unfortunately on the bottom was a sticker that said they were from China; but they looked right, so I brought them home. A night of soaking, and about 90 minutes of soft boiling later, they turned out just fine.

The visual difference is slight, but obvious when they’re side by side. Black soybeans are slightly smaller, have a shine like patent leather, and have slightly larger white spots in the concave part of the bean’s curve. Turtle beans are slightly larger, perhaps more regular in their classic bean shape, are matte black, and have smaller white spots.

So, bean lovers, enjoy. If you’re desperate, try out Cuban soy beans. But be prepared to wait.

A good Moros and Cristianos recipe is here. A little supermarket ham or bacon thrown in does wonders, too. And as the recipe says, don’t skimp on the olive oil.

-JB

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