I know that canned black beans are fairly easy to find here (Carrefour, City Super), but at many of the local stores I also see dried black beans - are these the same as the black beans used in Mexican food, or are they different?
(I vaguely recall hearing about fermented soy beans that become black. But if they’re fermented, I guess they couldn’t be dried - could they?)
Another bean-related questions: if a recipe calls for dried black beans, what equivalency should I use for canned black beans? (Ditto for chickpeas, actually.)
Ah, thanks. If they never got soft that would certainly make the food taste strange… I wonder how black bean soup would taste?!
Oh well. I’d hoped to save a bit of money and larder space (and hassle - those cans aren’t all that light when you’re walking), but not to be, I suppose.
[quote=“lostinasia”]Ah, thanks. If they never got soft that would certainly make the food taste strange… I wonder how black bean soup would taste?!
Oh well. I’d hoped to save a bit of money and larder space (and hassle - those cans aren’t all that light when you’re walking), but not to be, I suppose.[/quote]
I tried to make black bean soup with them once and it was not good. If I recal they are really pulpy or fibrous too.
Good question. They’re both so good – the black beans one finds in some Taiwanese food and the black beans in Mexican food. And they look similar. Interesting coincidence.
I saw some delicious-looking black beans at a buffet recently. I took one taste and… :raspberry: they were sweet! Ugh! They’re supposed to be salty and savory!
[quote=“lostinasia”]I know that canned black beans are fairly easy to find here (Carrefour, City Super), but at many of the local stores I also see dried black beans - are these the same as the black beans used in Mexican food, or are they different?
(I vaguely recall hearing about fermented soy beans that become black. But if they’re fermented, I guess they couldn’t be dried - could they?)
Another bean-related questions: if a recipe calls for dried black beans, what equivalency should I use for canned black beans? (Ditto for chickpeas, actually.)
Thanks![/quote]
Good Lord, in the name of mercy, for Pete’s sake, no, the beans unfortunately look very similar but nope, they are not the same. Some people swear they can make them taste similarly, and hence save money -as they are cheaper. Scientifically speaking, the ones here are adzuki beans.
“The black beans are starchier than the adzuki beans. The black get very soft and color/thicken the sauce. The adzuki hold their shape”.
The adzuki get used in more exotic preparations, like this one: Adzuki Bean Mango Stir Fry with Cilantro Lime Coconut Sauce.
They do if you throw a halved tomato in when they’re cooking. The acid softens the skins. Same for chickpeas. I do it all the time.[/quote]
Thanks for the tip. Btw, did you ever get that pm about dentists?[/quote]
Yeah, I did. Sorry, I totally spaced on a thankyou. So, a belated thankyou, Albert, although I have found a dentist in Xindian I’m happy with (Summit Dentistry, just opposite the intersection of Roosevelt Rd and Baochiao Rd, if anyone’s interested.)
Bumping this 13-yo thread
黑豆 (“black beans”) in Taiwan are a variety of soybeans, and are completely different from the black beans – aka turtle beans – used in Mexican cuisine, both in terms of taste and in their nurtional profile. Dry black beans are virtually impossible to find in Taiwan, but you can sometimes find canned black beans in Carrefour and such.
Bought large bag of dried Cannellini Beans today 55nt Taipei also had dried chickpeas and the brown rice is good.
[Here](25°03’26.8"N 121°31’02.0"E https://maps.app.goo.gl/DBEW54rrH1oiKjLQ9?g_st=ic)
I don’t like pinta beans here (there are different words for this kind of beans in Spain [we don’t use frijol] but they’re all feminine, ergo pinta instead of pinto for me). I recognise that they taste better than they smell, but still they’re not good.
These are called “flower beans” in Chinese, and are actually intended for making sweet stuff with, but I’ve seen mexicans here use them as replacement for pinto beans and it’s hard to tell the difference.
I’ve been experimenting buying pulses off random Taiwanese shoppee sellers here, with mixed results. The last batch of lentils I got were almost sprouting off. Chickpeas seemed okay, although compared to the Indian ones from Forin Mart seemed a little unusual. Only one round in the pressure cooker and they were mushy. The Indian ones took two goes in the pressure cooker to soften, with presoaking.
