I’ve been thinking about beans and rice a lot lately, and it’s only partly because I wrote a book about the former. I’ve been thinking about how the combination got me through some of my poorest years, when I was putting myself through college after my father cut me off financially.
These were the instant-ramen years, but at least a couple times a week I’d sit for hours at Austin’s Les Amis cafe (which we nicknamed “Lazy Me” because of the lackadaisical service) and eat a big bowl of brown rice topped with saucy black beans, salsa, sour cream and sometimes a little guacamole. I can’t seem to remember the exact price, but it couldn’t have been more than a few bucks, because that was about all I could afford.
That bowl of beans and rice became, on many days, the only thing I would eat. And it was satisfying and nutritious enough to see me through.
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I’ve been thinking about all this as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated the livelihoods of countless people who will undoubtedly be looking, just as I was, for similarly cheap, nutritious dishes. I wrote a few weeks ago about how to cook a simple pot of beans and use it throughout the week, and one of the ways I’m suggesting is indeed that classic combination — this time, made a little more interesting by way of Peru.
One of the nation’s traditional dishes, tacu tacu, is basically pan-fried beans and rice. The bean of choice is the creamy canary bean (a.k.a. mayocoba or Peruano), and the main spice is aji amarillo paste (made from Peru’s favorite chile). But you can also use pinto or another favorite bean (especially if you made a big pot of them at the beginning of the week), and Tabasco or another vinegary pepper sauce makes a fine substitute for the amarillo. This often comes topped with steak and/or a fried egg, but it’s delicious and hearty on its own, especially with a crunchy onion salsa. Some Peruvian cooks fry individual portions in the oblong shape of an omelet, but I prefer one a large cake, which you can divide and serve as you please.
It uses leftover white rice, but you can substitute whatever grain — preferably at least day-old and cold — you might have in your fridge.
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