How to Make the Nicaraguan Dish Gallo Pinto (Red Beans and Rice)

Here is a delicious vegan recipe for gallo pinto, the national dish of both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It is usually served with the Nicaraguan salsa alternative chili criollo.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup of uncooked red beans or aduki beans
• 1/4 cup of uncooked medium or long grain brown rice
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole
• sesame oil
• 1 onion
• 1 small mild red or green pepper
• sea salt

1. Rinse the beans and add to a large pot. Add a small 1" x 1" piece of kombu seaweed (optional, to tenderize and add minerals). Add 3 pieces of peeled but whole garlic. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 2 hours or until soft. Add sea salt to taste. The beans should be a little bit saucy, but if there is a lot of water left, turn up the heat and boil most of it off.

2. Rinse the brown rice and add to a large pot. Fill the pot with water to about an inch above the level of the rice. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes. If the rice is soft and there is still water, uncover and cook on medium-low until the excess water has boiled off.

3. Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to a large stainless steel frying pan and put on the stove on medium-low. Chop the onion and pepper into small pieces. When the oil is hot (3-5 minutes), add the onion and sautee for 5-10 minutes. Add the chopped pepper. Sautee for 5 more minutes.

4. Add 1 cup of cooked beans and stir. Add a few tablespoons of sauce from the beans, cover, and turn down the heat to low. Let the flavors blend for about 15-20 minutes, or longer.

5. Add 1 cup of cooked rice and stir.

6. Add more sea salt to taste. Serve hot.

7. Goes well with the Nicaraguan salsa alternative chili criollo. See the link to a chili crillo recipe in the Resources section.

Tips & Warnings

• The red beans used in gallo pinto are small red beans, not kidney beans. If you can't find them, substutute black beans
• This works better if the rice has already cooled (refrigerated rice is fine). However, it is not absolutely necessary.
• In the U.S., the traditional red beans are often sold as "Salvadoran Beans."
• Nicaraguan/Salvadoran beans are usually not organic. If you want an organic red bean, use aduki beans instead. The flavor is different but equally delicious.
• Variation: Skip the rice and serve the refried beans on fried tortillas
• Serve with plantains and a shredded cabbage and carrot salad

Resources

• Nicaraguan Chili Criollo Recipe
• How to Make Fried Plantains

[nbourbaki]

on 6/25/2009 Are the quantities based on a single serving?

[bossypants]

on 5/10/2009 This sounds savory and yummy! Thanks for another terrific recipe!