1. Recipes
  2. Bean soup, bacon, Portuguese cabbage crisps

Bean soup, bacon, Portuguese cabbage crisps

0.75 h 4 raciones
Difficulty: 
Alta

Ingredients

FOR THE BEAN SOUP
2 kg black-eyed peas (hydrated in water for 24 hours)
200 ml white wine
200 g chopped garlic
1 x 250 g piece of bacon
50 g butter
20 ml oil
1 onion (cut in half)
1 carrot (cut in half)
1 head garlic (cut in half)
1 aromatic bouquet garlic cloves sprigs of thyme black peppercorns and Jamaica pepper laurel leaves (preferably in a bag
for easy removal after cooking)
Salt & pepper to taste

FOR THE CABBAGE CRISPS
10 cabbage leaves (without the stalks)
5 g smoked paprika
5 g cinnamon
5 g powdered cumin
5 g powdered coriander seeds
10 g toasted black sesame seeds
2 g ground black pepper
2 g togarashi
100 ml mirin
200 ml tamari or shoyu
10 ml rice vinegar

FOR THE DISH
20 g small cubes of crisp bacon (done in a pan or fried – I prefer the former but the latter is very easy)
10 g cooked black-eyed peas (remove a small portion of beans used for the stock before over-cooked)
2 g chopped garlic
2 g chopped ginger
2 g chopped onion
1 g chopped spring onion
1 g chopped parsley
5 ml sherry or rice vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
120 ml bean soup
2 dehydrated cabbage leaves (split in half by hand)
1 ml lemon juice
5 ml oil.

For the bean soup:

Drain the hydrated beans; pour the water away. Brown the chopped garlic in butter, making sure not to burn it; set aside.
Brown the remaining vegetables in oil in a large pan with the bacon; add in the beans; stir. Add in the white wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates, and the liquid is almost gone; add water to the pan, then the bouquet, and cook the beans until they start to fall apart – the more tender the better. If necessary, add more water to the beans as the liquid reduces.
Once cooked, carefully remove the vegetables and the aromatic bouquet. Add the butter-browned garlic and season.
Gently stir the resulting contents in a food processor until velvety. Sieve to remove the fibre and other solids while still hot. Leave to cool and set aside.
 
For the cabbage crisps:
 
Stir the spice mix into the base liquid in a bowl; immerse each cabbage leaf individually, then drain and place on a tray for dehydration (I normally do this in a dehydrator: Excalibur is the best and well worth having for some things if you do not already have it) at 50 degrees for 24 hours, or until crisp. Set aside in airtight containers (preferably with bags of silica gel to absorb the moisture). The dehydration process can be repeated if necessary. They will last for 10 days from preparation.
 
For the dish:
 
Brown the aromatic bouquet in oil; add in the beans and crisp bacon, then sauté; add in vinegar and let it evaporate completely; add in the diced herbs, season and serve in one corner of a deep dish or bowl (use a ring mould to help, if necessary); stand some cabbage leaf crisps among the beans. 
Heat the soup to boiling point in another saucepan; season and adjust the acidity (lemon juice); place the liquid in a serving jug (maybe a milk jug/tea mug).
Serve the soup beside the garnish already given to the diner.
Share it:

Other recipes

View all