Feijoada
Brazil's national dish: a rich black bean stew with smoky pork and sausage.
Meat
How this varies: Home cooks in Rio commonly skip the offal cuts (ears/tail/trotters) and keep to 3-4 meats — that's a legitimate simplification — but carne seca itself is rarely dropped even in pared-down home versions, so it's worth keeping even when simplifying.
Ingredients
- 500g dried black beans, soaked overnight
- 200g carne seca (Brazilian dried salted beef), soaked and desalted
- 200g smoked pork ribs (costelinha defumada), chunked
- 150g linguiça calabresa (smoked pork sausage), sliced
- 100g linguiça paio, sliced
- 100g smoked bacon or smoked pork loin (lombo defumado), cubed
- Optional: 100g pig's ear, tail, or trotter, cleaned and parboiled, for a traditional 'feijoada completa'
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp oil
- White rice, sautéed collard greens (couve à mineira), farofa, and orange slices, to serve
Steps
- Desalt the carne seca: soak in cold water 12 hours, changing the water every 3 hours (or boil twice for 15 minutes each, discarding the water each time); cut into chunks.
- Drain soaked black beans, place in a large heavy pot with fresh water and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer.
- Add the carne seca and pork ribs to the beans; simmer partially covered over low heat about 1.5-2 hours, until the beans begin to soften, topping up water as needed.
- In a separate pan, brown the linguiça, paio, and bacon or smoked pork loin (and pig's ear/tail/trotter, if using).
- Sauté onion and garlic in the same pan until soft and fragrant.
- Add all browned meats and the onion mixture to the bean pot; simmer uncovered another 45-60 minutes, until the beans break down into a thick, dark, creamy mass that coats the meat — not a thin soup — and all meats are fork-tender.
- Mash a few spoonfuls of beans against the side of the pot to thicken the broth further.
- Taste and adjust salt carefully — the cured meats add plenty.
- Serve with white rice, farofa, sautéed collard greens (couve), and orange slices.