Bandeja Paisa – Colombian Bean Platter
The bandeja paisa is not a dish, it is an entire menu on one plate: red beans, rice, ground beef (mince), chicharrón, chorizo, a fried egg, fried plantain, an arepa and avocado. From Antioquia in Colombia, meant as a day's ration for work in the fields.
The piece everything hangs on is the chicharrón: pork belly with the rind on, first simmered in water until it has boiled away, then fried in its own fat until the rind blisters. And the beans are thickened with a green plantain, not with flour — it cooks alongside them, gets blended and goes back into the pot.
The arepa has its own recipe here: arepas.
🔎 What is chorizo? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.
Ingredients
- 400 g red beans (kidney beans)
- 1/2 green plantain, to thicken the beans
- 1 large onion and 2 plum tomatoes, for the sofrito (hogao)
- 500 g ground beef (beef mince), good quality
- 4 thick strips of pork belly with the rind on, for the chicharrón
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 4 pure pork chorizos
- 4 fresh eggs
- 2 ripe plantains (yellow-black skin), for the tajadas
- 4 small, thin white corn arepas
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- 400 g cooked white rice (2 cups)
- Neutral oil, as needed, for frying
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper and cumin, to taste
Method
- 1
The beans: soak the red beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Cook them in fresh water together with the whole half green plantain and a piece of pork rind or pork fat. When they are tender, lift the plantain out, blend it with a splash of the cooking liquid and return it to the pot — that is what thickens the beans naturally. Add a sofrito made with half the onion and the chopped tomato, season with salt and cumin, and let it reduce over low heat.
- 2
The crisp chicharrón: take the strips of pork belly and cut across the meat every 2 cm without cutting through the rind (they should stay joined, like the teeth of a comb). Rub the rind with a pinch of salt and the bicarbonate of soda. Simmer them in a pan with a finger of water for 15 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated. At that point add a splash of oil and fry them in their own fat over medium heat until the rind is completely blistered, golden and crunchy. Set aside.
- 3
The ground beef: in a pan with a little oil, soften the rest of the onion and the tomato, finely chopped. Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper, add a pinch of cumin and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the meat is loose, fine and dry. Keep it warm.
- 4
The chorizos and the tajadas: in a separate pan, brown the four pork chorizos well all over. At the same time, peel the ripe plantains, cut them lengthwise into thin slices (tajadas) and fry them in plenty of hot oil until golden and caramelised on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper.
- 5
The fried eggs: just before serving, heat a splash of oil in a small non-stick pan and fry the eggs one at a time over medium-high heat. You are after a crisp, lacy edge with the yolk still completely liquid and creamy.
- 6
Building the platter: use large oval plates or individual platters. Lay down a cup of white rice with a generous portion of red beans beside it. Put the loose ground beef on top and crown it with the fried egg. Around the edge, arrange a strip of crisp chicharrón, a chorizo, two slices of fried ripe plantain, a white arepa toasted on the griddle and half an avocado in slices. Serve immediately, very hot.