Soup Beans — Cook — Provenance

Ingredients

500 g dried pinto beans, soaked overnight in cold water, drained and rinsed
250 g salt pork, fatback, or smoked ham hock, one piece, left whole
1 medium yellow or white onion, peeled and halved, plus thick raw slices to serve
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
to taste salt, added only once beans are fully tender
To serve
4 wedges cornbread, served alongside or crumbled into the bowl
4 thick slices raw white or yellow onion
as desired chow-chow relish, sweet-sour, served on the side

Method

1
Soak the pinto beans overnight in a generous volume of cold water. The following day, drain completely and rinse under cold running water. Transfer to a large, heavy pot. Add the salt pork, fatback, or ham hock and the halved onion. Cover with cold water by at least 5 cm. The beans are ready to proceed when they have visibly swelled and the soaking water, now discarded, has turned cloudy.
2
Bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting that maintains a bare simmer. The surface of the liquid should barely move — a bubble breaking every few seconds. This is where the dish lives or dies: a rolling boil splits the skins, breaks the beans apart, and produces a murky, pasty broth; a gentle, sustained simmer yields whole beans in a thick, rich, bean-flavoured liquor. Adjust the heat as necessary throughout the cook.
3
Simmer uncovered, checking every 30 minutes to ensure the beans remain covered by at least 5 cm of liquid. Add hot water in small additions as needed — never cold water, which can cause skins to tighten. After 2 hours, begin testing: a bean pressed against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon should yield completely and mash without resistance, yet most beans should still hold their shape. Continue simmering up to 4 hours total if required.
4
Once the beans are fully tender, season with salt and black pepper. Stir and taste. The broth — the "soup" in soup beans — should by this point have thickened from the beans' released starch into a substantial, smoky, deeply bean-flavoured liquor. It should coat a spoon lightly and smell of rendered pork fat and earthy legume. If it remains thin, continue simmering uncovered for a further 15–20 minutes until it reduces to the correct consistency.
5
Remove and discard the onion halves. Remove the pork piece; if using a ham hock, pull any usable meat from the bone, shred it coarsely, and return it to the pot. Ladle the beans and their broth into deep bowls. The broth should be thick enough to soak into cornbread without disappearing. Serve immediately with cornbread alongside or crumbled directly into the bowl, a thick slice of raw onion, and chow-chow relish on the side.