Tenderizing fava bean skin without overcooking inside
For the umpteenth time I'm going to give fava beans a try, never having achieved satisfactory results thus far. I love them when someone else makes them, or even the canned ones ready to eat at my local Middle Eastern store, it's just that every time so far either the skin was too hard and the inside fine (1.5-2 hrs cooking total) or the skin was tender but inside mushy (3 hrs total cooking).
I soak the beans over night, then just boil the beans alone with salt for 1-2 hrs (regular white and black beans only 30-45 min), then mix with fried onion and other stuf and cook another 45 min - 1 hr.
Is there any way to tenderize the skin without overcooking the inside of the beans?
Best Answer
Peel the beans after soaking.
The outer skin is very tough, and is generally intended to be removed unless you are cooking the beans to mush.
Note that favas are a mushy/crumbly bean regardless of how they are cooked. You get the best texture by cooking them fresh. But peeling the soaked beans should improve texture for you.
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How do you soften the skin of a fava bean?
Boil a large pot of water and add a pinch of salt, then place the shelled beans into the boiling water for about one minute. Immediately after, blanch the beans in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. Remove the beans from the ice water, and the membrane around the bean should be tender.Can you eat the outer skin of fava beans?
When fresh favas are very young, they can be eaten whole, pod and all. Small fava beans also do not need their outer coat peeled and can even be eaten raw.Do you peel fava beans before or after cooking?
Generally these small beans will have a much improved textured after peeling, but very small dried fava beans may be eaten with skins on after a prolonged cooking process. I always cook then peel, but some recipes may specify cooking with skin on.Can you eat fava beans without peeling them?
Chopped to add to a vegetable soup, the immature pods stand in nicely for tender green beans. For the first favas that show up at the market in late spring, many find peeling is unnecessary, and it's true that when the beans are very small \u2014 no bigger than a pea \u2014 they are tender enough to eat skin and all.Why Fava Beans Can Kill You
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