P
Spanish · Asturias
Fabada Asturiana
Fabada Asturiana is one of Spain's great regional bean stews: large, white fabes de la granja beans slow-cooked with a compango of cured pork — morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo, lacón (cured ham shoulder), and tocino (salt pork belly). The dish is an assembly of quality components: the fabes must be the specific Asturian large-bean variety, soaked overnight, and cooked gently from cold to prevent the skin from breaking. The compango is added whole and removed before serving, sliced, and returned — the extended cooking infuses the beans with fat and paprika from the charcuterie while the sausages remain identifiable as distinct elements. Saffron is added in the final 30 minutes to provide colour and floral aromatics. The stew must rest overnight before serving — the second-day flavour integration is non-negotiable for kitchen professionals.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
500 g
fabes de la granja
soaked in cold water for a minimum of 8 hours, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Compango
200 g
morcilla
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
chorizo
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
lacón
cured ham shoulder, whole piece
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
tocino
salt pork belly, whole piece
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 pinch
saffron
added in the final 30 minutes
Your own market
1 slice
day-old bread
soaked in cold water before adding in the final hour
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Place the soaked, drained fabes in a large, deep pot. Add the compango — morcilla, chorizo, lacón, and tocino — whole and without cutting. Cover with cold water by at least 5 cm. Begin heating from cold. The cold start is absolute: beans dropped into boiling water will break their skins immediately.
2
Bring the pot slowly to a bare simmer — never a boil. Skim any foam that rises in the first 20 minutes. The surface must show only the faintest tremor throughout the cook. A vigorous boil breaks the fabes apart before they cook through.
3
When the liquid first threatens to bubble actively, administer the first 'susto' (fright): add a ladleful of cold water to arrest the boil. Repeat this intervention whenever the simmer becomes too lively. The beans must never dance in the pot — movement breaks them. The dish lives or dies here: sustained gentle heat is the single condition from which the stew cannot recover if broken.
4
In the final hour of cooking, add the slice of day-old bread soaked in cold water. It will dissolve into the broth over the hour, providing a natural, unctuous body. No starch is added. The broth should coat the back of a spoon lightly by the end of the cook.
5
In the final 30 minutes, add the saffron. The broth should take on a warm golden hue and a faint floral aroma, distinct but not dominant.
6
Remove the compango whole. Slice each piece — morcilla, chorizo, lacón, tocino — and return the slices to the pot. The sausages and cured meats remain identifiable as distinct elements rather than collapsing into the broth. Remove from heat.
7
Allow the stew to cool fully, then rest overnight. The beans will absorb the surrounding broth and all flavours will equilibrate. On the second day, the broth is darker, the beans silkier, and the fat from the compango fully integrated. Reheat gently to serve, never boiling. The dish is categorically better after this rest.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Certified fabes de la granja from a named Asturian producer; artisan morcilla and chorizo from a single Asturian charcutier; whole lacón and tocino cured in-house or from a known provenance.
02
Estate — Fabes de la granja from a reliable Spanish importer; good-quality commercially produced Asturian or Leonese chorizo and morcilla; lacón and tocino from a reputable Spanish charcuterie.
03
Market — Fabes de la granja where available, or large Spanish white beans of comparable thin-skinned variety; supermarket-grade Spanish chorizo and morcilla; commercially packaged salt pork belly and cured ham.
04
House — Large white beans — cannellini or butter beans — will work but will not achieve the same silkiness; widely available fresh or cured chorizo and blood sausage; pancetta or smoked bacon for the tocino component.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The broth surface shows only the faintest tremor throughout the entire cook — no rolling or bubbling.
◇Sight. Skins of the fabes remain whole and unbroken; beans hold their shape when lifted on a spoon.
◇Sight. The broth turns a warm golden colour after the addition of saffron in the final 30 minutes.
◇Touch. A single bean pressed between two fingers yields completely without resistance, with a smooth, creamy interior — no chalky centre.
◇Smell. The rested, reheated stew releases a deep aroma of paprika, pork fat, and saffron in equilibrium — no single element dominates.
◇Where it lives or dies. The simmer must never become a boil: a rolling boil breaks the fabes before they cook through, and no amount of subsequent gentle cooking will restore a bean whose skin has already burst.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
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Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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