Destination
Rio de Janeiro
The story
Baião de dois ("dance of two") is the Brazilian Northeast's answer to a full meal in a single pot. Rice cooked from raw in a stock of black-eyed beans (feijão de corda or feijão fradinho), finished with cubes of queijo coalho that squeak against the teeth and shredded carne do sol (sun-dried salted beef) that goes crisp at the edges. Onion, garlic, coriander, a spoon of butter. Served with a wedge of lime, sometimes a fried egg on top.
Method
Drain the soaked beans and simmer in fresh water with the bay leaf and salt for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender but not falling apart. Reserve the beans and their cooking liquid separately. You'll need about 600ml of the liquid.
Pat the carne do sol dry, chop into small cubes or shred with two forks.
Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until slightly crisp at the edges. Lift out and reserve.
Add the remaining butter to the pot. Sweat the onion 4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.
Add the rinsed rice to the pot and stir 1 to 2 minutes until translucent at the edges.
Tip in the cooked beans, 600ml of the reserved bean cooking liquid, and a good pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight lid and cook 18 minutes, without lifting the lid. The rice should be tender and the liquid absorbed.
Off the heat, gently fold in the coalho cubes, the reserved beef and most of the coriander. Cover again and rest 5 minutes so the cheese warms and just starts to soften.
Fluff with a fork, scatter over remaining coriander. Serve with lime wedges, hot sauce and optionally a fried egg on top.
Tips
- The bean cooking liquid is the whole flavour. Never cook the rice in plain water. Save the bean broth and use it as the rice stock: this is what makes baião de dois taste like more than the sum of its parts.
- Don't lift the lid while the rice cooks. Peek once at the 15 minute mark to check for scorching, but generally leave it alone. Steam is doing the cooking.
- Fold the cheese in off the heat. Coalho doesn't melt but it can get chewy if overcooked. Adding it at the end keeps the squeak.
- Substitutes are fine. If you can't find carne do sol, use bresaola cut into cubes and quickly crisped, or rehydrated jerky. If you can't find coalho, halloumi is almost identical.
- A fried egg on top is the classic upgrade. Runny yolk over the beans and rice is the traditional plating in Northeastern homes.
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