Kuru Fasulye with Turkish Beef (Turkish White Bean and Beef Stew)

La storia di questo piatto

Kuru fasulye belongs to the Anatolian and Ottoman table, a dish of the people that found its great stage in Istanbul's humble eateries in the twentieth century. The bean itself came from the Americas, and over time Turkey made it so completely its own that no one asks where it began.

Ingredienti

• 300 g Dried white beans (Dermason or cannellini type)
• 1200 ml Water for soaking the beans
• 400 g Beef cubes (chuck or topside)
• 1 piece Onion
• 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Sweet pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 1 piece Ripe tomato
• 1 piece Long green pepper (sivri type)
• 3 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
• 30 g Butter
• 1 teaspoon Sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground black pepper
• 8 g Fine salt
• 400 ml Hot water for the final cooking
• 250 g Long-grain rice for the pilav
• 400 ml Hot water for the pilav
• 20 g Butter for the pilav
• 4 g Salt for the pilav
• 120 g Mixed pickles (small cucumbers, cauliflower, chili peppers) for serving

Preparazione

1. The evening before, rinse the beans and place them in a large bowl with the 1200 ml of cold water, without salt. The water should cover them by at least three fingers, as they swell considerably overnight. Let them soak for at least 8 hours. In the morning they are ready when, pressing one between your fingers, the skin is smooth and taut and there is no longer a hard, chalky core inside. Drain them and discard the soaking water.
2. Place the soaked beans in a pot and cover with cold water, two fingers above the beans, without salt. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam with a ladle, then lower the heat: the water should barely simmer, with a few lazy bubbles on the surface, because a vigorous boil breaks the skins and makes the broth grainy. After about 40 minutes, press a bean: it should yield with little pressure but hold its shape. Do not drain them; keep them in their liquid, which is starchy gold and you will need it later.
3. While the beans cook, heat the 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Pat the beef cubes thoroughly dry with kitchen paper: if they are wet they will boil instead of brown. Cook them in two batches, without crowding the pan, for 8-10 minutes, until well browned on every side and the bottom is covered with a dark, fragrant crust. Do not salt yet. Remove the meat and set it aside, leaving the fond in the pan: that is where the flavor hides.
4. In the same pan, over medium-low heat, add the finely chopped onion with 1 g of salt (a pinch, part of the 8 g total in the list: the remaining 7 g are added in step 6) and let it soften for 8-10 minutes, stirring and scraping up the meat residues with the spoon. It is ready when soft, golden and sweet-smelling, never burnt. Raise the heat slightly, add the tomato paste and the pepper paste and toast them for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. The color shifts from bright red to dark brick red, oil rises at the edges and the raw smell disappears: this toasting is the secret to the deep flavor.
5. Add the diced tomato, the green pepper in rounds, the paprika, the cumin and the black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, crushing the tomato with the spoon, until it becomes a thick, glossy sauce. Return the meat to the pan, pour in 400 ml of hot water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook over very low heat for 40 minutes: the meat is ready when it begins to yield to a fork.
6. With a slotted spoon transfer the beans to the pan with the meat, then pour in enough of their cooking liquid to just cover everything, adding hot water if needed. Cover and cook over low heat for 40-50 minutes, with the broth barely simmering. Halfway through cooking, when the beans are tender, add the remaining 7 g of fine salt (with the gram used for the onion, this makes the 8 g of the list): added too early it toughens the skins. The dish is ready when the beans are creamy inside and whole outside, and the sauce has the consistency of a cream that coats the spoon.
7. While the kuru fasulye cooks, prepare the pilav: rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water is nearly clear, then drain well. Melt the 20 g of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and toast the rice for 2-3 minutes, until the grains become glossy and translucent with a hazelnut aroma. Pour in the 400 ml of hot water with the 4 g of salt, bring to a boil, cover and lower to the minimum. Cook for 15 minutes without ever lifting the lid or stirring, then turn off the heat, place a cloth under the lid and let it rest for 10 minutes: the grains will separate and stay fluffy.
8. Off the heat, distribute the 30 g of butter in pieces over the beans and swirl the pan in a circular motion, without a spoon, so as not to break the beans: the butter melts into a glossy, velvety emulsion. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so the flavors come together. Always taste before serving: if it seems flat, add a pinch more salt; if it seems heavy, a splash of vinegar or a little of the pickle brine will brighten it. Serve in deep plates with the pilav alongside and the 120 g of crisp pickles on the side.