Piyaz (Turkish White Bean Salad)

Name: Piyaz: Turkish White Bean Salad with Sumac Onion
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: Dried white beans 1 cup (170 g); Sweet white onion 1; Sweet pepper 1; Large tomato 1; Egg 1; Lemon 0.5; Parsley 0.5 bunch; Sumac 1 tsp (3 g); Olive oil 3 tbsp; Salt spices

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1 h 30 mins

Turkish white bean salad, piyaz, is a traditional side dish or appetizer found everywhere and is one of the staples of Turkish cuisine. On holiday in Turkish hotels, few people take an interest in the local dishes, especially simple vegetable ones, and prefer meat. That is a real mistake. Piyaz is the gem of the cuisine, and despite the different nuances of the recipes, it is always incredibly tasty.

Piyaz can be made with any legume, although the vast majority of recipes call for small white beans, which, by the way, are the most common ones where we live. Traditionally piyaz includes onion, parsley and sumac. All the other ingredients often change depending on the region and personal taste. Sometimes the recipe includes sesame seeds, peas or chickpeas, artichokes and even potatoes.

In some regions the salad is not considered an appetizer but rather a main dish, and the word piyaz is used for the combination of onion and sumac. In Persian, پیاز simply means onion. Sometimes the appetizer has no legumes at all, just onion, sumac and vegetable oil. Piyaz is usually served as a side dish with meat patties or kofte, an amazing combination.

The main seasoning that sets white bean salad apart from similar ones is sumac. It is the dried and ground fruit of a shrub that grows abundantly all over the world and is sometimes called the “vinegar berry”. Of the more than two hundred species, the spice comes from the sour, red-purple drupes of just one. The dried ground fruit is often mixed with salt. It is mainly used in salad dressings, marinades and seasonings for meat.

White bean salad with vegetables, parsley and onion marinated with sumac is served cold as an appetizer or as a side dish for fried minced meat dishes. Piyaz also goes well with fried falafel.

Notably, sumac is not always used in the salad. Cooks often replace this spice with ordinary balsamic vinegar, but when they tell you about the dish they will always add that this is only if you don’t have proper spices. I really like how easily and beautifully piyaz is decorated with slices of a hard-boiled egg. It is the first pleasant impression of the appetizer, and after tasting it there are plenty more. The salad can be varied quite widely and served with kebabs, grilled pork or shashlik.

10 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

Dried white beans 1 cup
(170 g)
Sweet white onion 1
Sweet pepper 1
Large tomato 1
Egg 1
Lemon 0.5
Parsley 0.5 bunch
Sumac 1 tsp
(3 g)
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Salt spices

Step-by-step recipe

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The white bean salad is made with ordinary dried beans that you boil first. For the beans to cook well, soak them in cold water beforehand, ideally overnight. After soaking, sort through the beans. Pick out the underdeveloped and spoiled ones by eye; very hard ones that ring like pebbles and beans damaged by bugs are common. Dried beans also often contain small stones, bits of stalk and pod, and beans of other plants.
Cover the soaked and sorted beans with plenty of cold water, more than 2 litres. Do not salt the water or add any spices. Put the pot on the heat and bring the water to a boil. If you can, skim off the foam. Cook the beans at a gentle simmer; you don’t have to cover the pot. If you boil them too hard, the beans will fall apart and the skins will crack. Authentic Turkish recipes quite often suggest simply pouring boiling water over the beans and leaving them for a while.
Piyaz usually includes extra vegetables: sweet pepper, more often green, not-too-ripe tomatoes, onion and parsley. The onion is marinated with sumac and lemon juice, sometimes balsamic vinegar. White bean salad is traditionally garnished with slices of hard-boiled egg and dressed with vegetable oil. All of these ingredients are available at any time of year.
Before you start making piyaz, boil one egg. Then peel it and cut it into wedges for serving. Peel one onion. White salad onion is ideal, as it is not so sharp. To reduce the sharpness and smell, you can also soak the onion in cold water, as is done when making Sicilian orange salad. Slice the onion thinly into half rings, either lengthwise or crosswise.
Separate the onion half rings into thin strips with your hands. Add 0.5 tsp of sumac and stir. Pour 1 tbsp of lemon juice over the onion. Leave the onion to marinate while the beans cook. By the way, this marinade is great for preparing onion for pizza or for a lavash and herb appetizer. In fact, what is in the bowl is, by and large, piyaz itself once you add the parsley.
Drain the cooked white beans in a colander. To keep the skins from cracking, cover them with a plate or a napkin. The beans should cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix vegetable oil, preferably olive, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 0.5 tsp of sumac and a pinch of salt. Whisk the mixture thoroughly with a fork.
It is convenient to make the white bean salad in a large bowl. Put the cooled beans into the bowl. Cut the large tomato into four pieces and remove the seeds and white parts. If possible, peel off the skin. Peel the fleshy sweet pepper. Dice the pepper and tomato. Finely chop the parsley. Add the vegetables and herbs to the beans and stir.
Pour the dressing over the white bean salad and toss again. Stir gently to damage the beans as little as possible. Taste the piyaz; it should be noticeably sour. If needed, add lemon juice or balsamic vinegar to taste. You can also add a little salt.
If the white bean salad is served as an appetizer or a dish on its own, put it on a plate right away. A flat plate works better than a salad bowl. Pile the piyaz in the centre. Garnish with slices of boiled egg and a sprig of parsley. Serve the appetizer at room temperature.
If piyaz is served as a side dish for lula kebabs, the salad is usually laid on an oblong or rectangular plate with the meat next to it. Pickled sweet pepper, some tomato sauce or ketchup make a nice addition, and soft sesame buns, a typical Eastern pastry, are always welcome too.