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Refried beans (from es, frijoles refritos, ) is a dish of cooked and mashed
bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s that is a traditional
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Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
and Tex-Mex cuisine, although each cuisine has a different approach when making the dish. Refried beans are also popular in many other Latin American countries. In this dish, after being boiled and then mashed into a paste, the beans are fried or baked, though as they are fried only once, the term "''re''fried" is misleading. As described by Rick Bayless, "they're ''refritos''—not fried ''again'', as you might assume, but 'well fried' or 'intensely fried.'"


Ingredients and preparation

In northern Mexico and Tex-Mex cuisine, refried beans are usually prepared with pinto beans, but many other varieties of bean are used in other parts of Mexico, such as
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
, Peruano, or red kidney beans. The raw beans can be cooked when dry or soaked overnight, then stewed, drained of most of the remaining liquid, and converted into a paste with a masher (such as a
potato masher A potato masher, tater masher, bean masher, pea masher, masher, or crusher is a food preparation utensil used to crush soft food for such dishes as mashed potatoes, Retrieved November 2016 apple sauce, or refried beans. Potatoes mashed using a ...
), or pressed through a fine mesh sieve (to remove the skins). Some of the drained liquid, or chicken or vegetable
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
, is added if the consistency is too dry. The paste is then
baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...
or fried, usually with onion and garlic in a small amount of
lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
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, vegetable oil, bacon drippings or butter, and seasoned to taste with salt and spices. In Mexico lard is most often used, and this has a large effect on flavor. Epazote is a common herb used to add flavor to the dish. It is also a carminative (i.e. it reduces the intestinal gas associated with beans).


Usage

In home cooking, refried beans are often served as a side dish accompanying a larger meal, or rolled in a tortilla to form a bean burrito. In the United States, refried beans are most commonly made from pinto beans. They are served as a side dish with most Tex-Mex restaurant meals. They also have become very popular as a dip for corn tortilla chips. Refried beans are also a primary ingredient in many tostada, chimichanga, and pupusa recipes. Additionally, they are a typical ingredient in layered dips, such as seven-layer dip, or in nachos.


See also

*
List of legume dishes This is a list of legume dishes. A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their food grain seed (e.g. beans and lentils, or generally pulse) ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Refried Beans Cuisine of the Southwestern United States American legume dishes Mexican cuisine New Mexican cuisine Tex-Mex cuisine Salvadoran cuisine