Feijoada (Brazilian Black Bean Stew)
The famous slow-cooked, flavor-packed, umami-rich national dish of Brazil. Featuring black beans and a variety of flavorful meats, Feijoada is an absolute feast for the taste buds!
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry black beans
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil ((I use avocado oil as it has a high smoke point but you can also use canola))
- 1 pound pork shoulder (cleft whole and shredded at the end of cooking, or cut into chunks)
- 2 large onions (, sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic (, minced)
- 1/2 pound fresh Italian or other spicy sausage (casings removed and crumbled)
- 1/2 pound smoked sausage (, such as linguica or kielbasa, sliced into rounds)
- 1/2 pound thick sliced bacon (, cut into small pieces)
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 4 bay leaves
- water
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon base (such as Better than Bouillon) or 3 beef bouillon cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- salt to taste
- hot sauce (, according to heat preference)
- orange (, washed and cut into slices)
Directions
- 1
Soak the beans in a large bowl of water overnight.
- 2
In a large Dutch oven or heavy duty pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the pork shoulder until generously browned on each side. Remove the pork and set aside. In the same pan, add the bacon and cook until slightly crispy (for the best flavor leave the grease but you can drain some of it if you prefer). Add the onions and cook the onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the crumbled Italian sausage and smoked sausage and cook until the crumbled sausage is no longer pink.
- 3
Return the pork roast to the pot along with the smoked ham hock. Drain, rinse, and add the black beans to the pot. Add the bay leaves, black pepper, and beef bouillon base/cubes. Cover the contents of the pot with water until the meat is just barely covered (about 2 quarts). Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 2 hours, making sure the beans are soft. About 1 1/2 hours into the cooking time, if using whole pork roast, remove and either shred or cut it into chunks, and return to the pot. Do the same with the meat on the smoked ham hock.If the feijoada is too liquidy, uncover the pot and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or so to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Add more salt to taste as needed. Add some hot sauce according heat preference. Discard the bay leaves.Serve with rice and the fresh orange slices.