I wanted to introduce my readers to a wonderful bean called balú or chachafruto (
Erythrina edulis). You can read about it
here. It's a huge bean, like the size of an egg, that grows in a huge pod. You can eat chachafruto beans raw with salt (they're cruncy and have a green bean-like flavor), you can cook them like regular beans, and you can even make a sweet cake from them. I guess they're in season now, because a few weeks ago they had them at the local mini-mart. I made a puree with a bit of butter and salt. It looked and tasted a lot like mashed potatoes, but with much more protein. I'm attaching photos from the experience, with my hand in some of the photos to give a sense of scale.
Also note the passionfruit in the photo, which happened to me exceptionally huge that day as well.
Here's what chachafruto looks like in the pod:
And here are the shelled beans before cooking, peeling, and mashing.
Okay, I just wanted to share this fun and exotic bean.
HI, I would like to receive your posts in my email...would you please put up a link for that. Follow me does not tell us of your new posts. Thanks, Ginnee www.costaricanmountain.blogspot.com
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ReplyDeleteBalú are amazing. I call them Tree Potato Beans. Apparently they need to be boiled for at least 45 minutes, to reduce the toxic alkaloids they contain. That's worth noting. (Ref.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrina_edulis)
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