I love living in a place that has some cheapo discount markets because those markets often have an array of ethnic foods/items that the larger, tonier white bread stores wouldn't bother with. And so from time to time, if I'm in Bellingham and not in a hurry, I stop at the Grocery Outlet just to see what's there.
On Friday I found fresh garbanzo beans.
I've never even laid eyes on fresh before, so this was exciting and I bought two clamshells of them, I guess that's 2 pounds, without a clue of what to do with them. Except, hey, they're fresh beans and I like almost all legumes as well raw as cooked, so could I go wrong here? I didn't think so.
So now I'm trying to think what to do with them, so I went googling for ideas and discovered that these are very popular in Mexico where their Spanish name is guasana. They are a seasonal treat, and trucks loaded with bundles of the branches with the beans still attached waddle up and down the streets of villages hawking them for about 4 pesos (40 cents) a kilo.
A native of Jaliso describes, "Here's how they're cooked and served: Take the little green pods off the branches. Feed the branches to your cow, or your burro. In a large skillet, bring a two or three tablespoons of salted water to a boil. Add the guasanas, still in their pods, and steam, stirring frequently, until tender. The pods should be bright green when done. Pop the pods open with your fingers and eat the tender little green garbanzos. Yummmmmmm..."
"Your burro!" I love that! Anyway, they are also sold ready to eat by street vendors who sell them both cooked and raw but whole, in the pod, to be eaten like edamame beans with with chile, salt and lime. Because the flavor is on the outside of the pod, one puts a whole pod in the mouth, pops it, and extracts the bean, or beans. Each pod holds just one or two beans. Messy but delicious.
I'm thinking we might need to have these for dinner tonight, maybe as an appetizer for a taco dinner where the filling is hot slices of roasted pork shoulder dressed with green chiles marinated in lime juice, olive oil and oregano.
Anybody else ever cook these?
