Ten years ago it was black pudding which fired the imaginations of Ireland's chefs. For the next few years, it is my prediction that black beans will become a mainstay of every restaurant menu. The reason is simple: they are delicious and versatile. Whether you use the subtle turtle bean, the salty fermented black bean or the more sedate black kidney bean, black beans all adapt well to various circumstances. A salty black-bean relish is a perfect partner for nibbles and for fish, and piles deliciously into a tortilla. The black bean soup featured below is one of the best I have come across in years, a true modern classic. This is fun cooking. A note on salted black beans: Chinese black beans are fermented soya beans, which are preserved by being cooked and then fermented with salt and spices. You will find them in all ethnic shops. Crushing the beans before using them releases their tangy aroma.
Black and White beans
I devised this as a dish to accompany fish, and the principle is simply that the sharp shock of the salty-garlicky-chilli-hot black beans is a delicious visual and flavour contrast to the mellow flavour of the haricot beans.
White beans
6 oz haricot beans, soaked overnight
1 onion, studded with three cloves
1 strip kombu seaweed
Cook the haricot beans with the carrot, onion and kombu in fresh water until just tender, which should take anything between one and two hours depending on the beans. Drain off any cooking liquid which remains and discard the aromatics. Reserve the beans.
Black bean sauce
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
11/2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons sliced shallots
21/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped salted black beans
black pepper
5 fl oz chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 small red chillies
Heat a wok over high heat until it is hot. Pour in the oil, then add the ginger, garlic, shallots, spring onions and black beans and stir-fry for two minutes. Add the salt, pepper, chicken stock or water and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Now, stir in the reserved haricot beans and allow the flavours to assimilate for a minute. You can serve the sauce on the side with some fried fish, or place the beans in a casserole, top with thin slices of fish (monkfish is good, so are fillets of brill) and bake in an oven at maximum heat for a couple of minutes until the fish slices are cooked.
Michael Rath's Black Bean Relish
This is perhaps the best black bean relish I have come across. Michael Rath, of Blackrock's Blueberry's Restaurant, serves it with an oriental crab spring roll as one of his starter dishes, and the combination of the flavours is stunning. The best quality of these ingredients can be found in Asian shops.
3 oz salted black beans rinsed and drained
5 fl oz toasted sesame oil
10 fl oz sunflower oil
2 fl oz oyster sauce
2 fl oz Thai chilli sauce (sweet)
2 slices pickled ginger
4 shallots, peeled and diced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
1 oz toasted sesame seeds
1/2 red pepper, skinned, seeded and diced
coriander to taste, leaves finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, stirring gently to blend well.
Henry Harris's Black Bean Soup
I made this soup, from Harris's The Fifth Floor Cookbook, published by Fourth Estate, recently when friends were coming round for lunch, and every one of us ate a second bowl of it. In many ways, it is a rather strange soup. The soaking water is used for the soup, which is highly unconventional. Water is used instead of stock. The hock is cooked with the beans, but is not then used in the soup, even though it is quite delicious (and very black). The cumin is tossed in uncooked, again highly unusual. And the result of all this culinary lawlessness is sheer soup heaven.
I served the soup with a scoop of sour cream and some lime juice, an influence borrowed from John Cooke, of Dublin's Cooke's Cafe, who himself makes a mean black bean soup. Turtle beans can be found in ethnic shops, and in good wholefood shops, and they are vital to this soup.
250g black turtle beans
1 small smoked ham hock, or 500g smoked gammon
2 onions, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 small bunch of coriander, with roots attached
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Soak the beans in 2.5 litres of water for 24 hours. Put the beans and the soaking water in a stainless steel pan along with the ham hock. Add the onions, celery and carrot to the beans along with the coriander roots (if you can't get coriander with the roots still attached, use a small bunch of coriander stems), garlic and bay leaves. Gently bring to the boil, which will produce a glorious purple scum on top of the liquid. Remove the scum with a slotted spoon and discard. Continue doing this as the soup comes to the boil. It is important not to allow the scum to boil back into the soup. Simmer gently for two hours, taking care it doesn't stick to the bottom. Remove from the heat and take out the ham hock and bay leaves. Although the ham will by now be rather black, it will taste delicious in salads. Pass the soup through the finest attachment of a moulilegumes. I use a food processor, but do it in small batches. While the soup is still hot, stir in the cumin and check the seasoning. The soup should be of a thick consistency, just short of a puree. Wolfgang Puck's Black Bean Ragout
And here is a versatile, simple and rather trendy treatment for black kidney beans, from the famous Austrian-American chef, Wolfgang Puck.ee from a small amount of the beans, which is then mashed back into the dish with the fresh herbs and tomatoes.
2 cups (about 3/4lb) black beans, rinsed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Leaves from 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
7 to 8 cups chicken stock, water, or half stock, half water, heated
1 tablespoon salt
freshly ground pepper
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
8 fresh large basil leaves, chopped
In a bowl, place the beans with enough cold water to cover by two or three inches and let soak overnight. Drain. In a small skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Over medium heat saute the onion, garlic, and thyme until the onion is translucent, about five minutes. Scrape into a large saucepan, add the beans, and stir through. Pour in six cups of the stock and/or water, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about two hours, stirring often to prevent scorching, adding the remaining liquid as necessary. When the beans are cooked, most of the liquid will have been absorbed. Remove one cup of the beans and puree in a blender. return to the pan, add the tomato dice, the basil, and the remaining two tablespoons of oil and stir through. Correct seasoning to taste and serve warm.