Bruine Bonen met Rijst (beans with rice)

One of the most popular Surinamese dishes; a favourite at parties and feasts, but also great as a Sunday lunch or a midweek dinner. The possibilities are endless!

Beans with rice is a Caribbean staple, and although Suriname is not strictly in the Caribbean, the ethnic diversity and laid back attitude of Suriname is much more in tune with the Island life than with it's South American neighbours.



Brown beans with rice is a so-called one-pot dish as is common in Surinamese cuisine. This is not a totally accurate description, as the rice is cooked separately, but everything else is cooked together in one large pot, hence the name: one-pot dish!

The meat that goes into the brown beans pot can vary from family to family. There are no strict rules, you can basically use anything you have to hand, whether it be chicken, pork ribs, salted beef, even pigs' tails and chicken feet! I prefer a nice mixture of several different meats to give a rich flavour; when you serve you can always ask your guests which meats they prefer.

There are also different ways to serve brown beans with rice. Some people cook the beans only very gently with the cooked meat and serve this almost dry. The way I prefer it though, and the way this recipe describes, is a rich, thick soup with the beans being mashed slightly to release their starch and act as the thickening agent.

Ingredients

2 chicken legs

500g smoked pork ribs (gerookte krabbetjes in Dutch)

250g salt beef/masterbeef (zoutvlees)

500g pigs' tails

1 tin of hot dog sausages

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 tomatoes

1 Tb tomato ketchup

1 tsp tomato puree

10 Pimento berries
2 large cans (approx. 800g) of brown beans
4 Maggi bouillon cubes
2 stock cubes (chicken or beef)
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 Madame Jeanette pepper
1-2 Tb sugar
1 bay leaf
1 Tb sunflower oil (for frying)
600g long grain rice

Method

Place the salted beef, pigs' tails and smoked pork ribs into a pot of cold water (enough to cover) and bring to the boil. This is to extract some of the salt out of the meat, as you don't want the dish to be too salty. Boil gently with lid on for at least 30 minutes. Drain and cut if necessary into small pieces - small enough to fit on a soup spoon.

Clean the chicken legs and remove the skin and any excess fat. Cut each leg into smaller pieces (approx. 5 per leg). Brown the chicken pieces in a large pan with the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the salt meat, pigs' tails and spare ribs and brown these as well. Chop the onion and garlic finely and add these to the pot, followed by the 2 tomatoes, also chopped finely. Stir everything well. Next add the tomato puree and ketchup.

Open the 2 cans of brown beans and empty these into the pot together with their liquid. Fill the empty cans with water and pour these into the pot as well. Now add the bouillon cubes and stock cubes, crumbling them into the soup. Add the spices and bay leaf, the whole Madame Jeanette pepper and place the lid on the pot. Turn the heat down to medium to allow the soup to simmer rather than boil.

The soup should simmer for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. You will see that it begins to thicken as the water evaporates and the beans break down and release their starch. You can always aid this process by stamping the beans with the back of a soup ladle. Allow the soup to simmer, stirring occasionally. Be careful that the Madame Jeanette pepper does not break up or your soup will be extremely hot! We are looking for the flavour of the pepper rather than the heat. 

Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. There are many methods for cooking rice, and the results are just as varying! For best results use a rice cooker, which is an essential item in many Surinamese households.

About 10 minutes before the soup is ready, chop the hot dog sausages into small pieces and throw into the soup to heat. The soup is ready when it is getting nice and thick. The meats should be completely cooked and will float to the top of the pot. Remove the pepper and serve separately for anyone who likes a bit of a heat. 

Serve the soup with the rice. You can either serve separately, with the soup in a soup bowl, and the rice on a plate, or both together on a large plate, with a mound of rice being topped with the soup. The choice, as always, is yours.

Like many dishes using legumes, brown beans with rice is even better the day after it is cooked, as the soup has more time to thicken overnight. The ingredients listed above will easily feed a family of 6 for 2 days.

Njang switi! Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?
Brown beans with rice has its origins with the African slaves who worked the sugar plantations of Suriname. This is seen in the cuts of meat that are traditionally used, chicken feet, pig tails, salt beef. These are cuts that the plantation owners did not want and gave to the slaves. Ironically, pigs' tails and salt beef are now some of the most expensive meats to buy in the Netherlands.

DID YOU KNOW?

A mixture of beans and rice is the most popular combination in much of the Caribbean and central and southern America. Whether it be Jamaican Rice and Peas, Cuban Moros y Cristianos, arroz con frijoles of Mexico or bruine bonen met rijst in Suriname. The relatively cheap ingredients and good source of energy makes it a firm favourite of this region.