El Lunes de Frijol con Puerco
(el loo-nes de free-hol con pwer-ko)
Lunes de Frijol con Puerco: Weeknight Pots & Weekly Rhythms
In the Yucatán, Mondays belong to Frijol con Puerco. Born from the necessity of preserving Saturday's slaughter and feeding exhausted field workers, this guiso de flojas—lazy cook's stew—is the ultimate weeknight miracle. Forget your French culinary training; the secret here is to stubbornly refuse to sear the meat. Dropping raw, heavily salted pork directly into boiling black beans renders it spoon-tender and infuses the broth with luxurious, silky fat. Served with rice cooked in that very broth and a towering pile of crunchy, fiery garnishes, this is a dish you don't just eat—you mash it together and sop it up with hot tortillas.
Before you start
Sort and rinse the black beans.
Check for any small stones or field debris, then rinse thoroughly under cold water.
Soak the beans overnight if you want to cut the stovetop time in half.
This isn't strictly necessary for this lazy stew, but an overnight soak in cold water will significantly reduce the initial boiling time.
Ingredients
- dried black beans1 lb
- bone-in pork shoulder1 1/2 lb
- pork spare ribs1 lb
- white onion1 large
- garlic3 large cloves
- fresh epazote4 sprig
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- water4 qt
- long-grain white rice1 cup
- neutral oil2 tbsp
- white onion1/4 cup
- garlic1 small clove
- Roma tomatoes3 large
- white onion1/4 med
- garlic2 med cloves
- fresh habanero peppers1 med
- fresh cilantro1 sprig
- radishes1 bunch
- white onion1 med
- fresh cilantro1 large bunch
- ripe avocados2 large
- limes4 med
- corn tortillas12 med
Method
- 01
Simmer the black beans with the onion and garlic.
Place the rinsed black beans in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven with the water, halved white onion, and smashed garlic, bringing to a boil before simmering partially covered for about an hour until they just begin to soften.
- 02
Plunge the raw, salted pork directly into the boiling pot.
Aggressively salt the pork shoulder chunks and ribs, then drop the raw meat and fresh epazote directly into the boiling beans—do not sear the meat. Submerge it fully, adding boiling water if necessary, and simmer partially covered for another hour and a half until the meat yields effortlessly to a fork.
- 03
Extract two cups of the dark, pork-infused bean broth.
Once the beans are tender and the broth has turned a glorious, opaque purple-black, carefully ladle out two cups of the liquid and set it aside for the rice, then lower the beans to a bare simmer to stay warm.
- 04
Toast the rice and simmer it in the reserved bean broth.
Heat the oil in a saucepan, toast the rinsed rice for a few minutes until nutty, then sauté the diced onion and garlic for a minute before pouring in the reserved black bean broth to simmer covered for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 05
Char the vegetables on a dry cast-iron skillet to build the chiltomate.
Roast the whole tomatoes, unpeeled garlic, onion chunk, and habanero directly on the hot, dry metal until deeply blistered and blackened all over.
- 06
Mash the blistered vegetables into a rustic, chunky salsa.
Peel the roasted garlic, remove the habanero stems, and pound them in a molcajete or pulse in a food processor with a heavy pinch of salt and the cilantro sprig—do not puree it into a liquid.
- 07
Serve with a mountain of garnishes to mash and sop.
Ladle the soupy black beans and pork over a mound of the dark rice, instructing everyone to pile on the radishes, cilantro, onion, and avocado, squeezing fresh lime over the top and mashing it all together before attacking it with hot tortillas.
Notes
Adapt this to a pressure cooker for a forgiving weeknight shortcut.
Combine the unsoaked beans, raw pork, onion, garlic, epazote, salt, and 6 cups of water, cooking on high pressure for 45 minutes with a 15-minute natural release.
Respect the habanero's floral heat if your family fears the fire.
If you don't want the intense spice, roast the habanero but float it whole in the finished salsa bowl instead of mashing it; it will perfume the sauce with floral notes without making it violently spicy.
Never skip the raw radishes.
The peppery, aggressive crunch of the diced radish is the vital architectural counterweight to the rich, fatty pork and creamy beans.