Sopa de frijoles con pitos Salvadoreños (Salvadoran bean soup with Erythrina berteroana flower)

A Salvadoran dish that is said to make you sleepy... you be the judge.

What is "Sopa de frijoles Salvadoreños?"

I cannot tell you the amount of times I burnt the frijoles (beans) when I was younger. Beans are something that is on hands at all times at any Salvadoran home. If you go to my moms or tias house right now, I guarantee they have a pot of beans or left over beans from the week's batch. Salvadoran beans are small red beans and they are super nutricious. If you live in the states GOYA sells them and they are usually found in the "International" or "Latin America" isle of the grocery stores.

Beans can be eaten in so many ways and used in endless recipes but all the recipes will require you to cook them first. In order to cook the beans you will have to boil them until tender and this is where you get the beans first use... sopa de frijoles (soup). Sopa de frijoles it's just the beans boiled in water with salt, onion and garlic. Boiling them creates a bean broth and you can eat it as soup with any garnishes you want. The most common garnishes are crema and queso salvadoreño (Salvadoran sour cream and cheese). I personally like to add avocado, tomato and cilantro. It's so delicious and fulfilling!

What can you make with frijoles Salvadoreños?

There are plenty of options on what to do with Salvadoran beans. You can cook the basic soup (which is what I made, recipe below) or you can make a fancy soup with beef or pork and any vegetables you'd like (squash, potato, carrots, cilantro, tomato, etc). If you opt for making a basic soup then you can refry them whole, blend them and refry them, or make rice. If you blend them and refry them, you can use them to make enchiladas salvadoreñas, tamales, pupusas, casamiento, and the list continues. A common dinner in a Salvadoran household includes beans, rice, a protein, queso or crema and handmade tortillas.

What is pitos Salvadoreños?

The scientific name I found for it in English is Erythrina berteroana and it's common in Central America, Northern South America and Mexico. Some countries may know it as lequeme, gallito, machete, pernila de casa, pito or poró de cerca. Let me know what you know it as.

The "Pito" is the flower that this tree grows, it is said to make you sleepy after you consume. It's never had that side effect on me but many have experienced it. When cooked with beans it has a similar texture to a boiled thin onion layer or a cooked green bean. That's the best I can do to describe it!

How to make sopa de frijoles con pitos salvadoreños?

It's very simple to make bean soup, just make sure that when you want to make it you have a few hours to let the beans get tender.

Ingredients for bean soup

• 1lb Frijoles Salvadoreños (Salvadora red beans)

• Water

• Peeled garlic cloves

• 1/2 onion

• Salt

• Pitos Salvadoreños: i usually use the Mamalycha brand!

Garnishes

• Crema Salvadoreña (Salvadoran sour cream)

• Queso Salvadoreño fresco o duro, if you can't find this at your local grocery stores you can use Feta cheese!

• Diced tomato and cilantro (Optional)

• Avocado (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Clean and wash the beans

2. Add them to a pot and add double the amount of water to the pot

3. Add half of an onion and 4-5 garlic cloves

4. Add about 3 table spoons of salt. You will need to taste the soup and add to taste as the beans cook. I like to add the salt at the very beginning that way the bean itself is cooked with salty water. Some people wait until the end however the soup has the salt but the beans don't. So I recommend adding them at the beginning.

5. Cook until tenderness desired. I like to personally soak my beans for 2-3 hours before cooking them, this helps cut down the cook time. If you don't soak and depending on how old the beans are it may take anywhere between 1-3 hours to get them tender.

Try it out and let me know how you like it. Add this recipe to your favorites as it will be a common one for other recipes to come. To stay up to date with the recipes I share, make sure you subscribe to our email list or follow us on social media (TikTok and Instagram): @flourishwithg. You can also find video recipes there to help guide you. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!