Fresh fava beans in the pod, at the Mercado de Jamaica, Mexico City, October 29, 2018. You can see how big and bulky these pods are; the beans inside are each about one inch long and half an inch wide. To use the favas, first you take them out of the pods and then you have to peel a tough skin from each individual bean. These cost fourteen pesos a kilo–about 75 cents US for 2.2 pounds.
It seems like just a few weeks ago that Mexico Cooks! was publishing cold-weather recipes, but it's been a year or more! Now's a good time to get a jump on something quick, delicious, and home-made for those who gather around your table for a meal. Mexican fava bean soup is not only wonderfully comforting on a chilly evening, it's also extremely economical and absolutely delicious–and suits the vegan or vegetarian members of your crowd, too. The soup freezes well, if the following recipe makes too much for your group.
Fava beans (scientific name Vicia faba L.), while not native to Mexico, are the cousins of Mexico's native beans and are an honored part of the family. It's rare to know Mexicans who don't have a favorite aunt's recipe for a special dish of them, or one treasured by a neighbor's late wife and passed down by word of mouth to everyone in the family. Fava beans, domesticated in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, are ubiquitous throughout the world, including Mexico. Fourteen-thousand-year-old seeds, wild predecessors to domesticated fava beans, were found just a few years ago in the area of Mount Carmel, Israel.
Freshly peeled green fava beans. Fresh favas are used somewhat less than dried, but both are popular in Mexico. Photo courtesy Alibaba.
Here's a Mexican brand of dried fava beans–you can see on the label that the fava is called haba, in Spanish; this bag contains 500 grams, just a bit more than a pound. Dried peeled habas (favas) are what you want for the soup recipe in today's Mexico Cooks! article. You're sure to find a similar brand on your grocer's shelves. You might even find them in bulk at your market.
What to make with dried habas? Middle-eastern hummus, of course, although we usually think of the creamy, olive oil smooth dip as made with garbanzo beans. Hummus made with cooked habas is equally delicious. Chilled salads, golden-fried patties, and dishes composed of pork, lamb, or chicken in sauces with habas are on tables all over Mexico. But more than any other dish, we here in Mexico use habas for soups.
Other than the dried habas, ingredients for the soup are few and simple. Here, from nine o'clock clockwise: fresh garlic, fresh celery, fresh carrots, Roma tomatoes, a wedge of white onion (hiding at the back, at three o'clock), and one of those two fresh serrano chiles. In addition, I added a bay leaf, just a pinch of cumin, and salt to taste. Nothing complicated, nothing fancy–and the results are fantastic. Let's get started!
Sopa de Habas
(Fava Bean Soup)
Serves 4-6
Half kilo (or one pound) dry fava beans
3 finely chopped carrots
2-3 finely chopped Roma tomatoes
2 Tbsp white onion, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 chile serrano, minced (optional, but really good)
8 Cups chicken or vegetable broth, home-made if possible
2-3 Tbsp lard or vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
Pinch of cumin
Salt to taste
Sprigs of fresh cilantro (optional)
Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil in a large heavy pot. When the water comes to a boil, add the dry fava beans. Cover with the lid of the pot slightly ajar and allow the beans to simmer for about 2 hours, until they are very well softened.
Once the beans are soft, drain off the water using a colander. Reserve the beans.
Everything is in the pot, cooking to the proper tenderness and thickness. See the bay leaf in the center?
In the bean-cooking pot, put the lard or vegetable oil and bring to a shimmer. Add the minced garlic, chile serrano, and onion and stir over medium fire until they are transparent. Add the celery, tomatoes, and carrots and stir over a medium fire until the celery is slightly transparent and the tomatoes begin to give up their juice. Add the fava beans and sauté for another 5 minutes, making sure the beans are well-mixed into the rest of the vegetables.
Add the chicken or vegetable broth, the bay leaf, and the cumin, cover with the pot lid ajar, and allow to simmer over a medium fire f
or about half an hour. Add salt to taste and continue to cook until it is just the thickness you want.
I needed to mash the beans (in the liquid) until the soup was nearly smooth and was quite thick. Next time I make this soup, I will probably use an immersion blender to get it smoother, although I did like the texture.
Remove the bay leaf and serve hot. Fresh tortillas or American-style cornbread are excellent accompaniments.
Provecho!
When I served the soup, I put a few sprigs of cilantro on the side of the plate for whoever wanted it to stir into the soup.
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