Blog - The Foreign Fork

Ema Datschi (Peppers and Cheese) from Bhutan

Posted on May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Ema Datschi from Bhutan is a mixture of chili peppers and cheese that marks every single meal in Bhutan. This version is a delicious and easy recipe to make with ingredients from your local grocery store!

Of all foods in Bhutan, I think most Bhutanese would agree that Ema Datschi reigns supreme. Ema Datschi is a total staple in Bhutan. Not only is it served at most restaurants, it’s served at most meals. In every house, for almost every meal, Ema Datschi is a favorite. Even if it’s not a main dish in the meal, it’s almost always served as an appetizer.

A Vegetarian Meal

As you may know from my Bhutan Introduction, many of the Bhutanese are vegetarians. Bhutan is a Buddhist country, so killing of any kind is strictly forbidden. If any inhabitants of Bhutan ever want to eat meat, it needs to be imported to the country from India. For this reason, vegetarian recipes are very common in Bhutan, and this is a great one!

The Cheese Blend

Now, of course, this recipe is meant to be made with yak cheese. However, I wasn’t able to find yak cheese (are you sick of hearing this yet? I’ve said it for every Bhutanese recipe so far), so I made my own cheese blend to add to my Ema Datschi. I found that a mix of feta, farmer’s cheese, and sharp cheddar was the perfect blend for this recipe. Of course, if you have access to yak cheese, that would be the most authentic way to make this recipe.

Variations of Ema Datschi

All recipes for Ema Datschi are a little different from one another. Some are more watery or soupy, some seem more like peppers smothered in melted cheese. This is a great mix in the middle, though the cheese doesn’t completely melt into the water. Farmer’s cheese tends to not melt into water, so the mixture ends up being more watery. I love it that way!

If you loved this recipe, make sure to post a picture of it on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork. You can also leave a comment on this post! Also make sure to check out this recipe for Pigeon Peas and Rice from The Bahamas and this Mangal (Roasted Vegetable) Salad from Azerbaijan.

Ema Datschi (Bhutan)

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Bhutan

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 poblano pepper cut into thin strips
2 jalapenos cut into thin strips
1/2 tbsp garlic
1 sweet onion sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 oz feta cheese
4 oz farmers cheese
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese
1 sliced tomato
½ cup water
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Wash the chili peppers, remove the seeds, and cut them into very thin, horizontal strips (about 1/4 of an inch thick). Wash the tomato, cut in half, and the cut into thin, half-moon slices.
Set a pan on the stove and fill it with ½ cup of water. Now add all of the chopped peppers, chopped garlic, sliced onion, salt, and butter into the pan.
Cover the pot and boil it on low flame for about 20 minutes.
Stir in cheese and allow it to melt.
Enjoy plain in a bowl or served over red rice.

How to Make Butter Tea from Bhutan

Posted on May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Butter Tea is a popular drink in Bhutan made from mixing black tea with cream and butter. Perfect for keeping warm on a cold day, Butter Tea is a unique and delicious treat!

Listen guys, it can get pretty cold in Bhutan. In January, the average temperature ranges from 40 degrees Fahrenheit all the way down to 20. (Okay, admittedly, for a Michigander that has survived negative 30 degree windchill, this seems like child’s play. But maybe some of you Californians or Floridians or Ethiopians will be amazed by the fact that people can survive months of life at 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Though to be fair, the average low in Michigan in the winter is also 20 degrees, so the Bhutanese probably have to survive much worse, just like we do here.)

When it’s cold, the object of life is to stay warm. To feel comforted. To feel cozy. ENTER: Butter Tea.

What is Butter Tea?

Butter tea is a warm tea drink flavored with Himalayan salt, a bit of cream, and butter. When it’s cold outside, the Bhutanese will mix up this drink. It provides a lot of natural fats that allows them to stay warmer in those cold Himalayan mountains. This is the kind of drink that you can feel flow through your veins when you take a sip. You can feel every inch of your body as it warms you, starting from your mouth and flowing to every last one of your fingertips and toes.

The Bhutanese normally enjoy Butter Tea as an after-dinner drink. Some tend to think of it as a broth or a soup instead of a tea, probably because the drink gets some of its flavor from Himalayan salt.

Making Authentic Bhutanese Butter Tea

If I was a true world traveler, I would make sure to head to Bhutan to get a real cup of Butter Tea, because, despite my best efforts, there’s almost no way that I can make it here. If I was in Bhutan, the cream in this recipe would be replaced by, you guessed it, yak milk. I would go outside and grab my domesticated yak and take some of its fresh cream. I’d churn that cream into butter and give it some time to ferment. Then I’d take out my bags made of sheep stomach and stitch the butter inside and then wrap that bag in yak skin.

I’d give it some time to reach maturity and then I’d remove the fermented yak cheese and use this in my Butter Tea instead. Or… maybe I’d have someone else do all of that for me. But, again, no yaks here in Michigan, so some Kroger-bought cream will have to do.

Perfect for the Coldest Day of the Year

This probably isn’t the type of drink I’d drink every single day like they do in Bhutan. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. This recipe is one that I would save for those moments when I am chilled to the bone. When I come in from a night of skiing and my body can’t warm up… when I’ve spent all morning shoveling 2 feet of fresh snow… the days that a plain ‘ole hot chocolate just won’t do the trick… those are the days that I’d come into my kitchen and whip up a quick batch of Butter Tea, close my eyes, and feel the warmness all around.

Did you like this Butter Tea recipe from Bhutan? If you did, make sure to check out my other favorite drink recipes on the blog: Cinnamon Tea from Armenia and Bahama Mamas from The Bahamas. If you made this recipe, share a photo of it on Facebook or Instagram with the #TheForeignFork or tag @TheForeignFork. And leave a comment to let me know what you thought!

Butter Tea (Bhutan)

Course Drinks

Cuisine Bhutan

Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups Water
2 black tea bags
1 tsp Pink Himalayan salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter softened
⅔ cup half and half

Instructions

Bring the four cups of water to a boil. Add the tea bags and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on how strong you’d like your tea.
Remove the tea bags from the water and pour the water into a blender.
Add the rest of the ingredients into the blender as well. Allow the butter to melt from the heat of the water before blending.
Blend the drink together for about 2-3 minutes. Pour into glasses and enjoy!
Leave a comment on this post telling me what you thought of your Butter Tea!

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Gondo Datschi: Eggs with Goat Cheese and Herbs

Posted on May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Gondo Datschi is a classic Bhutanese recipe made by scrambling eggs with goat cheese, butter, and herbs. It is best served with a big slice of toasted, crusty bread!

I love me a good egg recipe, but sometimes, when I make the same old thing every day, it bores me. I love scrambled eggs, but scrambled eggs with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and cheese mixed in becomes a bit tiresome upon repetition. Ya feel? Well I’m glad to share this Gondo Datschi recipe with you today, because it brings a whole new life to scrambled eggs!

Yak Cheese (…?)

I’ll start off by saying this… Yak cheese is a hugely popular ingredient in Bhutan, and, quite unfortunately, I don’t live in a location with an abundant access to yaks. If there’s cheese in my recipe, it should be yak cheese. But yak cheese is hard to find in Rochester and expensive to import, so I got a bit creative. Goat cheese is a delicious substitute, if I do say so myself. For some information on yak cheese, click here.

**What Makes This Gondo Datschi Recipe Special?**

The texture of the eggs tastes unlike any scrambled eggs I’ve ever eaten. You crack the eggs into water and combine them with butter and cheese, so the curds turn out a lot smaller than your run-of-the-mill scrambled eggs. The eggs are whisked continuously, so the texture is more grainy that chunky. I LOVE IT. Plus, herb-filled anything is a plus for me. I love the dill flavor in the recipe. The best thing, too, is that you can edit the recipe to fit your flavor profile. If you like more dill (like my Aunt Jeanie), add more dill! If you like less dill (like myself), add less dill! Easy peasy!

Pinterest Graphic Scrambled Cheese with Goat Cheese and Herbs

How to Serve Your Gondo Datschi

I like my Gondo Datschi served best with a big piece of crusty bread. Isn’t that how eggs are meant to be eaten all the time?

Did you like this breakfast recipe? If so, make sure to also check out my recipe for Pomidor-Yumurta (Eggs with Tomatoes) from Azerbaijan or my recipe for Kaiserschmarrn (Shredded Pancakes) from Austria. If you make this recipe and love it, make sure to share a photo of it on Facebook or Instagram and tag @TheForeignFork or hashtag #TheForeignFork. And, always, leave a comment about what you think!

Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Herbs (Gondo Datschi from Bhutan)

Gondo Datschi is a classic Bhutanese recipe made by scrambling eggs with goat cheese, butter, and herbs. It is best served with a big slice of toasted, crusty bread!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Bhutan

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

1 cup Water
4 tbsp Butter
4 oz Goat cheese
4 Eggs
¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
½ tsp Salt
½ tbsp Fresh dill
1 tbsp Fresh parsley
2 tbsp Fresh chives
1 tbsp Fresh oregano

Instructions

In a medium pot, boil the water on the stove.
Once the water is boiling, add butter and allow to melt..
Add cheese and whisk.
Crack in eggs. Add salt and cayenne pepper .
Whisk eggs fairly continuously for about 10 minutes, until they start to scramble.
Once the eggs are almost completely scrambled, add the finely chopped herbs.
Cook for about another 15 minutes, until the eggs reach your desired doneness.
Serve with a toasted piece of crusty bread and enjoy!
Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought.

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Caramelized Bananas in Pineapple Sauce from Benin

Posted on May 12, 2019May 13, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Caramelized Bananas in Pineapple Sauce are a spectacular dessert from Benin. They can be enjoyed solo, but my favorite way to devour them is on top of chocolate ice cream. The original concept for this Beninese classic is to caramelize the bananas in orange juice, but I put a special spin on the recipe. Let me know in the comments below what you think!

It’s May, and it’s officially spring, and although the sky seems to forget it sometimes, its supposed to be warm out. Michigan, of course, doesn’t always follow the rules. But warm is how it’s supposed to be, if everything goes as planned.

If everything goes as planned, then also, ice cream season is just around the corner. Okay, okay, if you’re anything like me… ice cream season is EVERY season. There are some crazies out there that only like to eat ice cream when it’s warm out. I can’t relate to those people, but I have some good news for them:

caramelized bananas with ice cream scoop

Caramelized Bananas as An Ice Cream Topping

These Beninese Caramelized Bananas in Pineapple Juice are THE BEST ICE CREAM TOPPINGS EVER. No exaggeration.

Sorry for screaming at you, but I needed you to understand. You get it now, right? Best. Topping. Ever.

How to Make Caramelized Bananas in Pineapple Juice

Pineapple juice and brown sugar mix together and heat on the stove to create a delicious sauce. Then, right before it’s done, add the bananas in and caramelize them right up. If you have a sweet tooth, this is the treat for you. I chose Dole Pineapple Juice as my pineapple juice of choice!

Orange Juice vs Pineapple Juice

The traditional method for this treat in Benin is actually caramelized bananas in orange sauce. You’re welcome to make this recipe with whatever fruit juice you’d prefer, and the same ratios should work just fine. Use fresh squeezed orange juice to be traditional, pineapple juice to be like me, or go off the rails and try something else! You’re going to like it no matter what.

Boiling Your Brown Sugar

Brown sugar syrup is a little difficult to master on the stove. If you let this syrup boil for too long (like I did the first time), the brown sugar will harden into almost a candy… Then the bananas will be caught in a sweet, sugary casing, and harden onto the ice cream… not idea.

Make sure to pay attention that your brown sugar boils the right way. You’ll want it to simmer very lowly for about 15 minutes and then plop the bananas in just to warm them through. Any longer and they won’t be as enjoyable.

If you tried these Caramelized Bananas in Pineapple Juice and loved them, post a photo on Facebook or Instagram and tag @TheForeignFork or hashtag #TheForeignFork! Leave a comment telling me how they were! If you liked this recipe, make sure to also check out this Strawberry Kissel from Belarus or these Tropical Stuffed Avocados from Barbados.

Course Dessert

Cuisine benin

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 2 servingss

Ingredients

2 large bananas
1 6 oz can Dole Pineapple juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
¼ tsp vanilla

Instructions

Put all ingredients besides bananas in the pan. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Peel bananas and slice in half vertically. Add bananas into the sauce and cook for another 2 minutes, until the bananas are warmed through

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Spicy Peanut Sauce from Benin

Posted on May 8, 2019May 9, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Spicy Peanut Sauce with a Habanero Pepper

This Spicy Peanut Sauce from Benin is a delicious staple in Benin’s African cuisine. It can be enjoyed on meat, rice, potatoes, or vegetables, and is a great choice for spicing up any meal!

Have you ever eaten peanut butter right out of the jar with a spoon? Of course you have. Because it ROCKS. Peanut butter is the ultimate food. As you might remember from my Belizean Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, I eat a banana every day. What I didn’t mention in that blog post is that that banana is ALWAYS accompanied by peanut butter. Peanut butter is a food I turn to quite often. There’s no other way to describe it than this: it just makes me happy.

Obviously, a banana and peanut butter is one of my very favorite snacks, but I love peanut butter in other forms as well. Normally I tend to enjoy my peanut butter in sweet dishes: cookies, pies, toast, ice cream… mmmm…. But this recipe is a GREAT savory recipe for peanut butter.

Controlling the Spiciness of Your Sauce

This Spicy Peanut Butter sauce is made with a blended onion base and a hearty helping of habanero pepper. Depending on your spiciness preference, you can range you habanero portion from “no addition” to “alllll the spiciness.”

I, of course, went for a very mild spice. I put about one half of a habanero pepper in my Spicy Peanut Sauce. If you’d like your sauce to be spicier, feel free to add a full habanero, or maybe even two. The spicier to Spicy Peanut Sauce, the more traditionally Beninese it is.

African Peanut Sauce vs Thai Peanut Sauce

The Peanut Sauce is a bit different than any peanut sauce I’ve had before. Traditionally, I’ve eaten Thai peanut sauce quite often (and loved it). Thai peanut sauce is normally mixed with soy sauce and is very sweet. This Beninese Peanut Sauce tends to stray from the “sweet.” The onions in the sauce and the spicy pepper make the sauce a great treat that’s different from any Asian peanut sauce you’ve tasted before.

2 Habanero Peppers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

How to Enjoy this Spicy Peanut Sauce

In Benin, they enjoy this Spicy Peanut Sauce on… almost everything. Rice, vegetables, potatoes, meat (when they eat it). It’s been said that this sauce is the Beninese form of ketchup… it goes on everything! My favorite way to serve the sauce was to roast some sweet potatoes and use this as a topping. Try whatever fits your fancy!

Did you like this recipe? If so, try out my recipes for Belgian Fries with Andalouse Sauce or my Chimichurri Sauce from Argentina. If you liked this recipe, leave a comment below! Please also feel free to take a photo and post it on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork. Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Spicy Peanut Sauce (Benin)

This Spicy Peanut Sauce from Benin is a delicious staple in Benin’s African cuisine. It can be enjoyed on meat, rice, potatoes, or vegetables, and is a great choice for spicing up any meal!

Course sauce

Cuisine benin

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

½ Large, Yellow Onion I used a Vidalia onion
1/2 Habanero pepper more or less to taste
1 Beef bouillon cube
2 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Tomato paste
¾ tsp Salt
¾ cup Water
½ cup Creamy all natural peanut butter I prefer Smuckers Brand

Instructions

Blend onion and habanero pepper together in a blender until smooth.
In a frying pan on the stove, use oil to fry the blended onion and pepper with tomato paste, salt, and bouillon cube. Fry for about 5 minutes.
Add peanut butter and water to the pan. Mix to combine.
Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
Use to top meat, vegetables, rice, or potatoes. Enjoy!
Leave a comment on this post to tell me what you think!

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Garnaches and Street Food from Belize

Posted on April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Garnaches are a popular street food in Belize made by frying a corn tortilla and topping it with refried beans, pickled carrots, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. This recipe is so easy to make and even easier to love!

My Opinions on Street Food

Street food… my favorite way to eat. Listen, I’m ALL. FOR. going out to eat at fancy restaurants (just ask my boyfriend, he’ll roll his eyes and tell you I’m right). But when I’m traveling in a new country, there’s nothing like some good street food.

I don’t know what it is about street food, but there’s something that makes eating from a vendor cart make the food taste infinitely more magical. Eating with your hands while you’re walking down brand new streets, seeing beautiful sights you’ve dreamt of experiencing? Life doesn’t get any more perfect than that.

Street Food in Belize

So today, I’ll be featuring a Belizean street food on the blog… Garnaches!

Belize’s neighboring, Spanish-speaking countries influence most of the street food in the country. Besides garnaches, other popular foods are tacos, panades (fried corn patties with fish and beans), and salbutes (hot, fried tacos).

So what are Garnaches?

A garnache is a flat, fried corn tortilla topped with refried beans, carrots, cheese, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes. This recipe for garnaches is purely vegetarian (and vegan!) and doesn’t include any meat. It would, however, be very easy to shred some chicken or pork and top your garnache with your protein of choice.

If you’re looking for an easy and authentic recipe from Belize, this is your go-to. You could make life complicated. You could make your own tortillas instead of buy them. You could make your own refried beans instead of buying from the can. I’m all for homemade, but I think that the beauty of this recipe has something to do with its ease. So buy the tortillas, pop open the can, and get enjoying these garnaches!

If you liked this recipe from The Foreign Fork, be sure to check out the Maamoul Date Cookies from Bahrain and this awesome Borscht Soup from Belarus. If you make this garnaches recipe, make sure to post a photo on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork. Leave a comment on the recipe, too, and tell me how you liked it! And don’t forget to come back next week to see some authentic recipes from the country of Benin.

Garnaches (Belize)

Course Main Course, Snack

Cuisine Belize

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 10 servings

Ingredients

10 corn tortillas
1 can refried beans
Cabbage
One carrot peeled and shredded
One onion thinly sliced
½ cup vinegar
1 tomato chopped
Cheddar block shredded
Oil for frying

Instructions

Place the shredded carrots and sliced onions in the ½ cup vinegar and allow to soak for a few hours or overnight.
Heat the oil to 325 degrees and fry the tortillas until crispy. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel.
Heat the refried beans according to can directions.
Top the fried tortillas with warm beans, pickled carrots and onions, shredded cheese, shredded cabbage, and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Belize

Posted on April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

This is my very favorite banana cake recipe, complete with an incredible cream cheese frosting. Flavored with a (perfect) overload of bananas, cinnamon, and buttermilk, this banana cake is almost like a combination of cake and banana bread. And boy, oh boy, are you gonna want to try it.

I eat, on average, probably about 6 bananas a week. It’s very rare for me to start a work day without a banana for breakfast, and when I’m hungry and craving something sweet on the weekends, a banana and peanut butter is my snack of choice. Bananas are a gift from the Good Lord… truly. They’re perfect portable snacks, complete with their own all-natural packaging! Nature is genius, I tell ya.

Banana Cake in America vs. Belize

Because of my love for bananas, I obviously love all banana baked goods as well. Banana bread… or banana muffins… can’t forget about banana cake. God, I love banana cake. And I especially love this treat when it comes with cream cheese frosting.

Banana cake is a little different in America than it is in Belize. In America, this treat is more of a cake-y texture; It’s light and fluffy. This texture is achieved by adding only a few bananas and quite a bit of flour to the recipe. The less bananas in the recipe, the less moisture in the batter, and the fluffier the cake!

In Belize, the recipe is very different. Most recipes that I found for the Belizean version had around 6 bananas in the recipe, and not very much flour. Belizean banana cake is very dense, even denser than banana bread! It’s flat and moist and the banana taste is very prominent!

Both have their perks, right? I love a good light, fluffy cake, but I also love a great banana flavor. So naturally, I took the middle route. My banana cake had four bananas in the recipe, making it lighter than the Belizean version but still with the great banana flavor! The texture is comparable to a banana bread, but in a sheet form.

The Cream Cheese Frosting

And the cream cheese frosting….. Oooooh baby that cream cheese frosting makes all the difference in the world. I got the frosting recipe from my very favorite source: Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s fluffy and creamy and honestly, the best part of any recipe that its a part of.

Have I convinced you to try it yet? YES?!?!? Oh good. Because the recipe is posted below. When you try it, post a photo on Facebook and Instagram so that I can see (make sure to tag @TheForeignFork or hashtag #TheForeignFork). And leave a comment, as always, so that I know how it was. Don’t forget to tune in on Sunday for a GREAT Belizean street food recipe, garnaches.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Belize)

This is my very favorite banana cake recipe flavored with a (perfect) overload of bananas and cinnamon and an indescribable cream cheese frosting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Belize

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 18 servings

Ingredients

For the Cake:

4 large ripe bananas
8 tbs 1 stick margarine or butter, melted
2 eggs beaten
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cup buttermilk
2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

For the Frosting:

8 oz full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter softened to room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
⅛ tsp salt

Instructions

Make the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in melted butter.
Use an electric mixer to add eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and buttermilk.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add dry mixture into the wet mixture, and mix until combined and then for 1 ½ minutes.
Grease a 9×13 pan and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and cover top with aluminum foil. Continue baking for another 20 minutes.

Make the Frosting:

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy.
Add in 3 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine, then switch to high speed and beat for two minutes.
Once the cake is cooled, spread the frosting on the cake, top with banana slices, and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Cake recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Frosting recipe comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Red Beans and Coconut Rice from Belize

Posted on April 21, 2019April 21, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Red Beans and Coconut Rice from Belize is a great way to change up your rice and beans recipe! The rice is cooked with coconut milk to give the dish a rich, coconutty flavor.

It’s no secret that rice and beans are a staple in MANY diets across the world. Rice is universal, and I’ve already released a few rice and beans recipes on the blog to date. It’s true that rice and beans never get old, but still, it’s necessary to keep things interesting. That’s why I was excited for this Red Beans and Rice from Belize. This recipe is perfect because it’s cooked with one of my very favorite ingredients… coconut milk!

The coconut milk gives the rice and beans a very unique taste…. They have a slight hint of coconutty flavor, which is what makes them so interesting.

The Beans in Your Red Beans and Coconut Rice

To start this recipe off, make sure to buy your red kidney beans the night before you want to eat. Place the dry kidney beans in a large bowl and fill the bowl to cover the beans with water. Overnight, the beans will absorb this water and rehydrate themselves…. They will grow like mega-monster beans!!

Once your beans soak overnight, you’re ready to rock. Put the beans in a pot, add some garlic, cover everything with water, and bring the water to a boil. You’re going to want to boil your beans to tenderize them even more, but take caution not to cook the beans for too long.

Boil the Beans for the Right Amount of Time

The first time that I tried making this recipe, I boiled my beans until they were perfectly tender and ready to eat. I failed to realize that I still needed to cook them for a half an hour longer with the rice. By the time I finished the last step of the recipe, I realized I had overcooked the beans so badly that they had become dry and crumbly. I recommend that you cook the beans until they’re almost ready, but not quite. You want to be able to bite through them easily, but you don’t want them completely soft on this first step.

Finishing the Recipe

The rest of the recipe is fairly easy to follow. Add the other vegetables to the beans. Then, toast the rice, add the beans, some water, and the coconut milk to the rice. Cover with a lid, let it cook for about 30 minutes, and you’re ready!

Repurposing Your Red Beans and Coconut Rice

This dish was DELICIOUS and became my packed lunch for work for 2 whole weeks (yes, I cooked this recipe two weekends in a row). Towards the end of the rice and beans’ life, I really wanted to switch up the flavor a little bit, so I turned my Red Bean and Coconut Rice into FRIED Red Beans and Coconut Rice.

Put a tablespoon of sesame oil in a pan. Once it heats up, add about one serving of your Red Beans and Coconut Rice. Then, scramble an egg in a separate bowl and add it to the pan to cook with the rice. When the rice warms up and the egg is almost cooked through, add about a tablespoon of coconut aminos or soy sauce to the pan. This adjustment to the rice and beans makes them taste like an entirely different, but still incredibly delicious, meal. I would highly recommend!

If you liked this rice and beans recipe, make sure to check out my Pigeon Peas and Rice recipe from The Bahamas, my Muhammar Rice recipe from Bahrain, or my Rice with Vermicelli recipe from Armenia. If you try making this Red Beans and Coconut Rice from Belize, make sure to take a photo and post it on facebook or instagram with the hashtag #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork. Leave a comment on this post and let me know what you think!

Red Beans and Coconut Rice (Belize)

Red Beans and Coconut Rice from Belize is a great way to change up your rice and beans recipe! The rice is cooked with coconut milk to give the dish a rich, coconutty flavor.

Course dinner

Cuisine Belize

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb dry kidney beans
½ tbsp chopped garlic
½ onion chopped
½ red bell pepper chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 cup white rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water

Instructions

Place kidney beans in container and cover with water. Let sit for 8 hours overnight to soften.
Drain the beans. Put beans in a pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Add garlic.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour until beans are tender.
Remove from heat. Mix onion, red bell pepper, vegetable oil, salt and black pepper into the beans.
In a separate pot, melt the better. Toast the rice in the butter for about 3 minutes.
Add the water and the coconut milk into the rice, and also dump in the kidney bean mixture.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For personal or educational use only.

Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin from Belize

Posted on April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin is the perfect recipe for an easy meal. The meat will soak in the marinade for about three hours, you pop the meat in the oven, and viola… A yummy, boozy dinner straight from Belize.

I have a confession here. The original recipe for this recipe was Rum Soaked Pork Chops. But I gave Mama Foreign Fork a shopping list on cooking day and she came home with some teeny pork tenderloins so… the recipe became Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin. If you really want to know the truth, I didn’t even know the difference until my dad pointed it out while we were eating dinner #sorrynotsorry. We just don’t eat a lot of pork in my house.

Picking Rum for Your Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin

Soaking your meat in alcohol is, for some, a dream come true. I’m not really a meat gal or an alcohol gal (beer chicken is NOT my thing), so it took some convincing to make this recipe. But yeah, it’s a keeper. I used Bacardi on my Pork Tenderloin, because it was the only white rum I had laying around the house. I’m sure there’s some higher quality rums out there that you could use if you prefer. For me, the Bacardi worked just perfectly.

This recipe is sweet from the brown sugar but a little tart from the lime. And it definitely has a nice touch of rum flavor. It’s the perfect combination for a dinner outside on the summer patio. Make yourself a mojito to go with it and you have yourself a feast.

If you liked this recipe for Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin from Belize, make sure to check out my recipe for Bahama Mamas from the Bahamas. If you make this recipe, post a photo on Facebook or instagram and tag @TheForeignFork and hashtag #TheForeignFork. Leave a comment below to let me know how you like it!

Rum Soaked Pork Tenderloin (Belize)

Course Main Course

Cuisine Belize

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

2 pieces of 1 inch thick pork tenderloins
½ cup white rum
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
4 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a bag to marinade and let rest for about 3 hours or overnight.
Put in a baking dish in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes at 350 until reaches 145 degrees internally.

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Stoemp: Creamy, Vegetable- Stuffed Mashed Potatoes from Belgium

Posted on April 7, 2019April 7, 2019 by Alexandria Drzazgowski

Stoemp from Belgium is the epitome of the perfect comfort food. Mashed potatoes are mixed with cream and sauteed vegetables and eaten to experience the taste of a homey and comforting dish.

Remember those awesome fries that we had from Belgium earlier…? Yeah, those were awesome. Luckily for you, we have another potato recipe from Belgium ready to bless your kitchen…. This Stoemp is the peeeerfect comfort food. Bad day at work? Stoemp will fix it. Feeling under the weather? Stoemp will fix it. Going through a breakup? Stoemp will fix it. There’s nothing that this recipe can’t fix. Challenge me on this, I dare you.

Personalizing Your Stoemp

Okay but really, the thing that makes this stoemp so delicious is the cream and vegetables mixed in… The nutmeg in the cream creates a really homey, nutty, comforting flavor. And the vegetables add an element that cannot be beat.

Really, you can choose to add any vegetables to your stoemp, depending on what you have available. If you don’t like a vegetable in the recipe, feel free to remove it and replace it with something that you enjoy more!

Cleaning the Leeks

If you’re choosing to put leeks in your stoemp, take extra care when working with them. Cut the leafy parts off of the leeks and then use a knife to cut the stem into small rings. Put these rings into a strainer and rinse them in the sink. Leeks often hide dirt between their extra rings, so you must rinse between the rings to remove all of the dirt. Then before you add the vegetables back into the mashed potatoes, make sure to squeeze them dry with a paper towel.

Stoemp was one Belgian recipe that I didn’t try while I was visiting in Belgium, but I wish I did! I can only imagine how delicious this recipe would taste made traditionally in Belgium. I did, though, bring you the most authentic recipe possible and I can’t wait for you to try it!

Did you like this stoemp side dish from Belgium? Leave a comment on my blog post to let me know! You can also post a photo on instagram or facebook with the hashtag #TheForeignFork or tag @TheForeignFork. If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my recipe for Jeera Aloo potatoes from Bangladesh or Potato Pancakes (Draniki) from Belarus.

Stoemp or Creamy, Vegetable-Filled Mashed Potatoes (Belgium)

Stoemp from Belgium is the epitome of the perfect comfort food. Mashed potatoes are mixed with cream and sauteed vegetables and eaten to experience the taste of a homey and comforting dish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Belgium

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds idaho potatoes about 5 potatoes
2 carrots peeled and chopped
10 oz Brussels sprouts
1 ½ leeks washed and cut into rings
6 slices bacon
2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 ⅓ cup heavy cream
4 tbsp butter

Instructions

Peel and cube the potatoes. In a large pot, boil the potatoes. When tender, drain and mash.
Cut the leaves off of the leeks and work with the thick part at the bottom. Cut and prepare all vegetables. In a large pot, melt the butter and add the vegetables. Saute for about 5 minutes.
Cook bacon.
Add stock, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil. When vegetables are cooked, strain liquid out of vegetables. Add the vegetables into the potatoes. I added about ¾ of the vegetable mixture and it was enough, but feel free to add as much or as little as you’d like. Also crumble and add the bacon.
Add liquid back into the pan. Reheat to a low boil and cook the sauce, stirring continuously, until the sauce reduces and becomes thicker.
Once sauce is ready, add into the potatoes and mix to combine again. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For personal or educational use only.