Asturian fabada stew, or simply fabada, is one of the best known dishes of Spanish cuisine.
It is a dish that has as its main and identifying ingredient, the “Fabes” or white beans, although the fabes are a variety of beans grown mainly in Asturias, where it has a designation of origin, although it is also grown in some other areas .
They also have a reputation and are used for the preparation of Fabada Asturiana outside of Asturias, the “farm beans”, which are another variety of white beans, or beans, which is also known as these legumes of high quality.
It is an old dish, but not as much as one might initially think, since according to the data and references available, the preparation of Fabada Asturiana with the recipe known today is from the end of the 19th century.
Like all the legume, prior to its preparation and cooking it is necessary to soak it, covered with water, for several hours, eight or ten hours at least, and it is common to soak them the day before preparation.
Its cooking is done in a partially covered stew and slowly, not on a live fire, and for a period of time greater than five hours.
In the first two hours of preparation of the Asturian fabada stew, the beans are cooked with onion, which is then removed.
In the second part of the cooking of the Asturian fabada stew, the “compango” is added, which is the name given to the set of ingredients used together with the beans.
The companion is composed of meat ingredients that are, pork bacon, sausage, blood sausage, lacon, ribs, ear, tail and salted bacon. All of them from the slaughter of the pig and there are those who also add spices such as garlic, bay leaf and saffron that gives it flavor and color. The purists reject the addition of spices.
During cooking, you should not remove the stew to avoid the breakage of the beans and it is important that they are well cooked and tender, but whole.
Asturian Fabada is a plane with a high energy value, which means that its consumption is carried out more in winter than in hot weather.
As I have already pointed out, the Asturian fabada stew is a well-known and appreciated dish of Spanish cuisine and as such very demanded, but its laborious preparation and the amount of products involved in its preparation introduce a significant difficulty for its habitual preparation in homes .
This means that there is an important offer of Asturian Fabada already prepared and packaged for consumption with a simple preheating.
The most common container for Asturian fabada stew that is for sale is the canned can, although more and more different presentations and packaging appear, as is the case with all food products.
You can buy Asturian fabada stew online through our Gastronomic Spain page.
