01/15/2018
Ful medames 4 ways...
Ful or foul or fuul or فول مدمس is the national dish of Egypt. It is typically served at breakfast: protein rich, flavorful, and comforting, it's a beautiful plate to put before your family or guests to give them a healthy start to their day. Or serve this as a luncheon dish or an appetizer. It is usually served at room temperature with sliced eggs and tomatoes or tahini and pita. Here we will explore four different ways to bring it to your table.
It starts with fava beans. Fava beans are ancient. They originated in Asia and Northern Africa and spread throughout Europe and now all over the world. They are extremely flavorful and have a wonderfully creamy texture. They are incredibly nutritious. They contain thiamin, vitamin K, vitamin B-6, potassium, copper, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Be careful though as some of your friends from the Mediterranean can have an allergy to fava beans, called favism, that can make them very sick. Always ask your guests if they can safely consume broad beans.
At Al Haramine you can find every ingredient for the very best ful, from favas, be they fresh, dried or canned, to the most fragrant onions to the most aromatic spices and rich tahini or tomatoes on the vine. Or an assortment of prepared ful when you need a little help in your busy day.
Most of the time, ful is made with dried beans. Soak them overnight with a Tbsp of baking soda. The next day, rinse them and boil them for a couple of hours with onions.
If you are using fresh beans (lucky you!), shell them and boil them until soft with onions.
Canned favas are the easiest to cook. Boil them in a pot for about 20 minutes and rinse them.
Now you have your base. From there you are going to add your distinctive flavorings. You can throw in more onion (never a bad idea), cumin, garlic, coriander, lemon or lime...whatever you like that complements a meaty bean. Don't go too crazy, favas are pretty excellent on their own so you don't need a lot of other seasoning. Where you can show off is how you serve this dish. Sliced boiled eggs are a beautiful accompaniment. Some chopped parsley or cilantro is nice. Some black olives cured in brine..maybe some scallion or chives...chopped tomato...even pine nuts. Let your imagination run wild!
Here are three of the best recipes we found for each type, fresh, dried, and canned, plus there's always the prepared ful we offer and a bonus recipe for the best way to boil eggs.
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Stewed-Fava-Beans
http://www.mattersofthebelly.com/fuul-traditional-egyptian-fava-bean-stew/
http://www.mettariver.com/recipes/2015/6/8/fresh-fava-bean-ful-medames
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213737/kens-perfect-hard-boiled-egg-and-i-mean-perfect/
What is your favorite way to prepare ful? Share with the Al Haramine community how you enjoy this wonderful dish!
