Macrobiotics 101 - Chapter 5: Ten Things You Might Not Know About Beans
Save money and improve your health. Beans are one of the best ways to go!
1.) Did you know that you don’t need to soak beans? Macrobiotics teacher and PBS cookbook author Christina Pirello was once challenged to a cook-off. The tiny Italian grandmother told her people would get indigestion eating her soaked beans. When their cook-off was through, Gran’s beans tasted richer, and no one became “musical” after the meal. Since soaking also removes some flavor and enzymes, and starting with dry beans took only minutes longer to cook, Christina has stopped soaking beans before cooking them.
If you feel you must soak, Christina says an hour will do it - don’t waste time planning farther ahead. For reference -- The traditional Quick Soak is boil water and beans 2-5 minutes, then cover, take off heat and let sit at room temperature four hours. The long soak is 8-9 hours at room temperature, IE overnight. For many people, a short soak gets rid of indigestible sugars that lead to Musical beans. The long soak doesn’t help the music side effect, but the beans hold shape better.
2.) Before cooking beans, place a stamp-sized piece of kombu (a type of seaweed) or one bay leaf per cup of beans on the bottom of the pot. They will mineralize and soften your beans, making both fat and protein more accessible to your body. One packet of dried kombu will last you literally years, if this is all you use it for! (I also place a piece of kombu in any whole grains I cook, for the same reason.)
3.) When you bring the beans to a boil, let them roll and froth for at least five minutes. This will add to the digestibility of the beans, and will cook away the majority of the gas from the beans. No more bean chorus!
4.) Also when you boil beans, skim the froth off the top of the water. Many people find the froth leaves an off taste in the final product. The beans will be more digestible without the foam.
5.) Do not add salt to the beans until after they’re done cooking. Salt too soon, and you’ll get hard beans that retain their shape! If you salt them a bit at the end, your result will be soft beans. You want to make them mashed or refried? Don’t salt them.
6.) I’ve read several places that you should not cook adzuki beans in a pressure cooker. They may become bitter. (Otherwise, adzuki are great little beans, among the most easily digested.)
7.) When cooking, simmer the beans after that five-minute boil. Simmering gives you a better chance of the skins not splitting.
8.) Canned organic beans are okay in a pinch - just remember to drain the water from the can and rinse the beans well. You don’t want stale-tasting water ruining your beans!
9.) Dried beans can last for years if stored in a tight-lid glass container and kept in a cool, dry place. Try one dry bay leaf in the container, to add to freshness.
10.) Beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber. Black-eyed peas kept the southerners from starving after Sherman’s March to the Sea. Black-eyed peas were used as food for pigs, but their high protein level (over 10 g. per serving) meant they were valuable for anyone. Sherman’s troops destroyed everything else, but the lowly black-eyed pea vines, with scant leaves, were ignored.
Have fun with beans! From hummus appetizers to red beans & rice, beans are tasty, colorful, nutritious and inexpensive! They are the cheapest protein you’ll probably find. These tips may not work every time for every cook, but they’ve worked for me, and I hope they work for you.
1.) Did you know that you don’t need to soak beans? Macrobiotics teacher and PBS cookbook author Christina Pirello was once challenged to a cook-off. The tiny Italian grandmother told her people would get indigestion eating her soaked beans. When their cook-off was through, Gran’s beans tasted richer, and no one became “musical” after the meal. Since soaking also removes some flavor and enzymes, and starting with dry beans took only minutes longer to cook, Christina has stopped soaking beans before cooking them.
If you feel you must soak, Christina says an hour will do it - don’t waste time planning farther ahead. For reference -- The traditional Quick Soak is boil water and beans 2-5 minutes, then cover, take off heat and let sit at room temperature four hours. The long soak is 8-9 hours at room temperature, IE overnight. For many people, a short soak gets rid of indigestible sugars that lead to Musical beans. The long soak doesn’t help the music side effect, but the beans hold shape better.
2.) Before cooking beans, place a stamp-sized piece of kombu (a type of seaweed) or one bay leaf per cup of beans on the bottom of the pot. They will mineralize and soften your beans, making both fat and protein more accessible to your body. One packet of dried kombu will last you literally years, if this is all you use it for! (I also place a piece of kombu in any whole grains I cook, for the same reason.)
3.) When you bring the beans to a boil, let them roll and froth for at least five minutes. This will add to the digestibility of the beans, and will cook away the majority of the gas from the beans. No more bean chorus!
4.) Also when you boil beans, skim the froth off the top of the water. Many people find the froth leaves an off taste in the final product. The beans will be more digestible without the foam.
5.) Do not add salt to the beans until after they’re done cooking. Salt too soon, and you’ll get hard beans that retain their shape! If you salt them a bit at the end, your result will be soft beans. You want to make them mashed or refried? Don’t salt them.
6.) I’ve read several places that you should not cook adzuki beans in a pressure cooker. They may become bitter. (Otherwise, adzuki are great little beans, among the most easily digested.)
7.) When cooking, simmer the beans after that five-minute boil. Simmering gives you a better chance of the skins not splitting.
8.) Canned organic beans are okay in a pinch - just remember to drain the water from the can and rinse the beans well. You don’t want stale-tasting water ruining your beans!
9.) Dried beans can last for years if stored in a tight-lid glass container and kept in a cool, dry place. Try one dry bay leaf in the container, to add to freshness.
10.) Beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber. Black-eyed peas kept the southerners from starving after Sherman’s March to the Sea. Black-eyed peas were used as food for pigs, but their high protein level (over 10 g. per serving) meant they were valuable for anyone. Sherman’s troops destroyed everything else, but the lowly black-eyed pea vines, with scant leaves, were ignored.
Have fun with beans! From hummus appetizers to red beans & rice, beans are tasty, colorful, nutritious and inexpensive! They are the cheapest protein you’ll probably find. These tips may not work every time for every cook, but they’ve worked for me, and I hope they work for you.