These were something I just kind of made up because I wanted something to go with korean tacos. Here’s the thing I had recently realized: beans taste like crap because they only really taste like whatever you add to them, and most people don’t add enough seasoning to them. If you spike them up with enough seasoning, beans can taste like whatever you want! It’s a creamy palette for you to play around with.
So, I wanted a side dish, I had recently started trying out some japanese cooking, and I had this miso stuff, so I figured, why not give it a shot? These things are great and I think I might have invented them, because if you google around for miso refried beans you don’t get many hits but they all suck. So, go me!
Also, a note on using miso paste. While it has a very distinctive flavor, you’ll probably find it doesn’t have as much of an impact on the flavor of the beans as you would expect. Turns out the flavor is easily masked. Where down below I recommend 1-2 tablespoons of miso, it really goes more like this:
Start by adding 1/2 a tablespoon or so of the miso paste, mash everything up, let it simmer for a minute or two, and taste it. If it doesn’t have as much flavor as you want, repeat as necessary. You definitely want to let it cook for a minute before you taste it, because that reflects what it will really end up like. BUT. You also want to taste it every time before you add any more, because this is responsible for a lot of the salt in the dish, so it’s easy to go overboard.
Don’t let my comment about the salt worry you, it’s not super salty or anything, but it definitely has salt. For reference, I would usually end up using one and a half tablespoons of miso.
Ingredients
1 15 ounce can pinto beans, drained
1/2 a green bell pepper, minced
1/2 an onion, minced
1-2 tablespoons miso paste (this is to taste, start with a half a tablespoon. After you add some, stir it in really well and let it cook for a minute before you taste it. This is also responsible for a lot of the salt in the dish, so you want to treat it that way, but I usually end up using about 1 1/2 tablespoons per can of beans)
1/2 – 1 inch ginger, minced
4+ garlic cloves, minced (go nuts on it if you want)
4 tablespoons butter or oil, divided
1-2 finely chopped serrano peppers (optional, if you like spicy food)
Directions
Okay, get a skillet, heat it on medium, and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Melt the butter until it’s starting to sizzle, then add in the onion, bell pepper, and optional serrano. Saute until the onions are starting to go clear.
Add the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant, about thirty seconds.
Add the drained beans and the rest of the butter. Stir occasionally until the beans are heated through – a good rule of thumb is if the butter you just added is fully melted, then the beans are probably hot enough; this step should only take a few minutes.
At this point, go ahead and grab a potato masher, a large spoon, or even just a hammer if that’s the mood you’re in, and mash those beans up until they have a good consistency, close to that of mashed potatoes. Add half a tablespoon of miso paste and mix it in thoroughly (easiest way is to just use your masher/spoon/hammer) and try a tiny bit to see how you like it. If you want more miso, add another half a tablespoon and mix it in. Proceed like this until you’ve got it how you like it, then remove from the heat immediately.
For this amount of beans, I generally use about two tablespoons of miso paste, and the flavor is really nice. But feel free to experiment with it.
Stupid easy to make and so much better than ordinary refried beans.
eatbensmeat 