White Bean Soup with Pork and Cracklings

Prepare the beans

1. A tasty, nourishing bean soup is best made from dry white beans with fairly large seeds. Usually, when a recipe uses bean puree, for example in bean puree soup the recipe calls for pressing the boiled beans through a sieve or colander. That is rather inconvenient, if you ask me.

   

2. Soak the beans. Soak the dry beans in cold water in advance, at least 6 hours, or better overnight, and cook them in the morning. If you want a bean puree and the beans are large, you can get rid of the skins that cover them even before boiling. It is easy: when you press a soaked bean, the skin slips off under pressure and only the inner halves remain, ready for boiling and mashing.

   

3. Cook the beans. Peeling a cup of soaked beans (170 g) takes 10 minutes. That is much easier than making life hard by pressing the beans through a sieve. Put the peeled halves in a saucepan and cover with two cups of cold water (400 ml). Put the pan on the heat and bring the water to a boil. Then reduce the heat so the liquid barely simmers, and cook the beans with the lid off for 20-25 minutes, until soft. During that time the beans will start to lose their shape, and the water will partly boil away and partly be absorbed by the beans. When the beans are nearly done, take the pan off the heat and let it cool a little together with the remaining liquid.

   

Fry the salo, pork and vegetables

1. Render the cracklings from the salo. Peel the rind off a piece of salo (you can use more, by the way) and cut it into thin slices. Fry the salo in a hot pan over medium heat until soft cracklings, so that a little pork fat renders out. Move the cracklings to a saucer and set them aside for now. You will need them when the soup is served.

   

2. Fry the pork. The pork should not be very fatty, preferably lean meat. Cut the meat into slices.

   

   If there is too much pork fat, you can pour some off. 2-3 tbsp of fat is enough to fry the meat and vegetables for the soup. Lower the heat under the pan to medium-low and add the meat to the hot pork fat. Stirring often, fry the pork until it takes on a light golden color. Try not to let the meat stick to the pan while frying.

   

   Put a pot on the heat and pour in 4-5 cups of water (0.8–1 l). Bring it to a boil. As soon as the meat is browned enough, move it with a slotted spoon into the boiling water, letting the fat drain back into the pan.

3. Fry the vegetables. Peel the onion and cut it into large cubes. Peel the carrot and parsnip and cut them into cubes roughly twice as large as for an Olivier salad. Fry the cut vegetables in the pork fat for 5-6 minutes, until the first signs of a golden crust and the onion darkens slightly.

   

Make the soup

1. Add the vegetables and spices to the broth. Add the fried vegetables to the boiling broth with the pork, then add salt and black pepper. Add ground coriander to taste, but the bean soup is better when the coriander is clearly noticeable in the overall flavor. Add a few whole dried chili pods. Dried pods will not make the soup very hot, although the taste will be quite piquant. If you can, add fresh hot pepper. Cut the pod in half and remove the seeds and white membranes. I added 6 dried pods of medium heat, and then peppered the soup further to taste at the table. Peel 2-3 cloves of garlic and chop them finely into the soup.

   

2. Simmer the soup until the vegetables are done. Simmer the bean soup on low heat until the vegetables are fully cooked, at least half an hour. Do not rush the boil: the soup should barely simmer.

   

3. Make the bean puree. Meanwhile the boiled beans have cooled a little and can be pureed. Put the beans with their liquid into a blender and add 1-2 ladles of broth from the soup. Blend the beans until completely smooth; you should get a thin puree.

4. Pour the puree into the soup. Turn up the heat under the soup pot and pour the thin puree into the soup. Stir the bean soup and bring it to a boil. Add spices to taste, salt and pepper. The soup can be mildly spicy or quite hot, as you wish. By the way, a spicy soup is a great dish that whets the appetite and warms you in cool weather.

   

   Cook the bean soup for another 2-3 minutes on low heat, and it is ready.

Serving

1. Ladle the soup into bowls. Using a slotted spoon, divide the thick ingredients of the soup among the plates, placing them in the center. Then ladle the thin bean puree around them.

   

2. Add the cracklings and herbs. Put the cracklings you set aside earlier on top of the mound of vegetables and meat. Finely chop fresh parsley and sprinkle it around the edge of the plate. At the very end, my advice is to sprinkle with coarsely ground hot red pepper. I love spicy dishes.

   

   Serve the bean soup only hot, and do not reheat it. The pork fat in the soup tends to solidify. The soup is best when freshly made. Be sure to serve it with a slice of fresh white bread or with spicy tacos.