Score: 8.4
This is the recipe that launched the Bean Train Blog! This is Mami’s best recipe and the one that her kids and grandkids want to learn and pass down. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, my brother calls from North Carolina asking how to make it. Every time. That’s what gave me the idea to start this blog, so, Thank You, Henry!
I’m willing to tackle any cuisine, cook up a storm and invite a few extra mouths. But I hadn’t made this recipe until I started the blog. I knew I was grandma material when I could make this recipe just like Mami’s (well, almost, but don’t tell her!).
Congri is a traditional Spanish black beans rice side dish served with just about anything Cuban, especially with roast pork (lechón asado) on Christmas Eve (Noche Buena). Now let’s briefly consider the congri vs. moros debate (or just skip this paragraph if you’re not Cuban). Depending on where in Cuba you lived, congri is made with red beans and rice and moros y cristianos is made with black beans and rice. My mom was a Havana gal, so I grew up calling this black bean version congri.
It’s been hard perfecting this black beans and rice recipe because my mom doesn’t use exact measurements. It’s a little pinch of this, a dash of that, and a handful of the other thing. She cooks “a ojo de buen cubero” which basically means she eyeballs everything. But she’s been making this recipe for so long that it always comes out fantastic. I had to watch her like a hawk to get the measurements down.
You can’t use canned beans for this dish. You really need to make them from scratch because you’ll be using the bean broth as well as the beans. You can make instant pot black beans but will have to switch to the cooktop to make the rice. Now let’s talk about soaking the beans. My mom always soaked the beans overnight and then replaced the water with fresh water. Some folks say this is not necessary. But recently, I’ve been reading more about anti-nutrients and lectins and how soaking the beans helps remove some of the harmful anti-nutrient compounds. Added bonus, soaking also reduces the complex sugars that can lead to gassy side effects. So, it turns out Mami was right. Soak them beans!
You can also turn this dish into vegan black beans and rice by omitting the salt pork. Add a little extra salt in that case. You can taste and make that call. Salt pork is common in southern cooking, so it should be easy to find. But, you can substitute bacon or pancetta for the salt pork if it’s easier. I use a lot of it in this recipe because my daughter loves it so much, but you can use a little less and still have great flavor. ¡Buen Provecho!
Food for Thought:
I have taken for granted how comfortable and fearless I feel in the kitchen. I owe my mother a debt of gratitude for encouraging me to cook, but I didn’t realize it until a few years ago. Sometimes hurt makes us focus on the negative, and we miss the goodness around us. My mom tended to be very critical of me when I was growing up, which damaged my self-esteem. But she always supported my efforts in the kitchen. I never thanked her for that.
A few years ago, a very talented friend of mine shared why she doesn’t enjoy cooking. When she was young, she tried to make her Dad breakfast and burnt it, and her dad called her stupid. That made me think about my own confidence in the kitchen and how my mother treated my first cooking attempt. I was eight years old when I made my first dish from scratch. Having seen my mom make Spanish omelet dozens of times, I was sure I could pull it off. So I cracked the eggs, cut up a potato, and cooked it together, not realizing that you had to cook the potato before adding it to the omelet. I served my mom and stepdad raw potato omelet! They ate it up and told me how delicious it was!! Years later, my dad confessed that Mami made him eat it and say he loved it.
My mom has her shortcomings, but she also has excellent qualities. Being a parent myself, I realize that moms are not perfect, but we do the best we know-how. So thank you, Mami, for sharing your love of cooking with me and always letting me try new things in the kitchen. Sorry, I burned the kitchen a little (just once).
