Feijoada
Feijoada completa: Rio's black-bean and pork stew (plus overnight soaking and desalting)
In Rio de Janeiro, feijoada has its own days: Wednesdays and Saturdays, when botecos and restaurants put the big pots on and lunch stretches into the afternoon. Black beans simmer slowly with carne seca (salt-dried beef), salted pork ribs, smoky sausages and bacon until the broth is thick, dark and glossy. The full spread, feijoada completa, comes with white rice, garlicky shredded couve, crunchy farofa and slices of orange to freshen the palate. Our vegetarian feijoada covers the meat-free version; this is the classic. Start a day ahead, because the salted meats must soak. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of cooked beans with the fried onion and garlic and stir it back in; it thickens the broth naturally.
- Total time
- 180 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the stew
To serve
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Method
0/12 doneStep 1: The day before, desalt the 14 oz carne seca (Brazilian salt-dried beef), 14 oz salted pork ribs and 10 ½ oz salted pig's ear, trotter or tail: put them in separate bowls of cold water in the fridge and change the water 3–4 times over 24 hours. Common mistake: skipping or rushing this. The feijoada ends up far too salty and there is no way to fix it later.
Step 2: Drain the salted meats, put them in a large pot of fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse. This takes out more salt and the scum.
15 minStep 3: Drain and rinse the soaked 1 ⅔ lb dried black beans. Put them in your largest heavy pot (at least 8 litres) with the 16 ¾ cups water, 4 bay leaves, the carne seca, ribs and extras. Bring to the boil over a high heat and skim off the grey foam.
15 minStep 4: Lower the heat and simmer, half covered, for 1 hour, stirring now and then so nothing sticks. Top up with boiling water if the beans start to show above the liquid.
60 minStep 5: Add the piece of 7 oz smoked bacon and the 9 oz paio or other smoked pork loin sausage and simmer for 40 minutes more, until the beans are soft and the meats are getting tender.
40 minStep 6: Meanwhile, heat the 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the 10 ½ oz smoked pork sausage (linguiça calabresa) for 5–6 minutes until browned. Lift it out, leaving the fat behind.
6 minStep 7: In the same pan, fry the 2 onions over a medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and golden, then add the 6 cloves garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
9 minStep 8: Add 2 ladlefuls of cooked beans with a little broth to the frying pan and mash them into the onion with a fork or potato masher. Scrape the mixture back into the pot and stir.
3 minStep 9: Add the browned sausage and ½ tsp black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes more, stirring often, until the broth is thick and dark and the meats are tender enough to pull apart with a fork. The beans should be creamy, some just starting to break.
30 minStep 10: Taste, and only now add 1 tsp salt if it needs it. Lift out the bacon, slice it and return it to the pot. Fish out the bay leaves.
Step 11: Rest the feijoada for 10 minutes off the heat. Serve with cooked white rice, couve à mineira (garlicky shredded greens), farofa (toasted manioc meal) and 3 oranges. In Rio it's often drunk with a caipirinha, which contains cachaça; for an alcohol-free glass, muddle lime and sugar with ice and top up with soda water.
10 minStep 12: To make ahead, cool within 2 hours, refrigerate and keep for up to 3 days, or freeze. Reheat gently with a splash of water, stirring, until piping hot all the way through.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 720 kcal
- Protein
- 50 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 34 g
- Fibre
- 15 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does feijoada take?
- About 180 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of dried black beans?
- Kidney or pinto beans, same amount.
- What can I use instead of bay leaves?
- Leave it out, or a pinch of dried thyme (it's a background flavour).
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