Black turtle bean
Small, shiny variety of the common bean
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The black turtle bean is simply called the black bean (frijoles negros, zaragoza, judía negra, poroto negro, caraota negra, or habichuela negra in Spanish; and feijão preto in Portuguese), although this terminology can cause confusion with at least three other types of black beans.
The black turtle bean is the only type of turtle bean. It is called turtle because of its hard outer "shell". It is not the same bean as used for douchi, the Chinese dish made with black hulled soybeans.
Nutrition
Once boiled and salted to prepare for eating, black turtle beans are 66% water, 24% carbohydrates, 9% protein, and 0.5% fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 g (3.5 oz), boiled black turtle beans supply 132 calories of food energy, and are a rich source (20% or more the Daily Value, DV) of thiamine and folate, with several dietary minerals in moderate content (table).
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Use in cuisines
The black bean has a dense, meaty texture used in vegetarian dishes, such as frijoles negros and the Mexican-American black bean burrito. It is a commonly consumed in various regions of Brazil, and is used in the national dish, feijoada. It is also a main ingredient of Moros y Cristianos in Cuba, is a required ingredient in the typical gallo pinto of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, is a fundamental part of Pabellón criollo in Venezuela, and is served in almost all of Latin America, as well as many Hispanic enclaves in the United States. In the Dominican Republic cuisine, it is also used for a variation of the Moros y Cristianos simply called Moro de habichuelas negras. The black turtle bean is a soup ingredient. In Cuba, black bean soup is a traditional dish, usually served with white rice. Black beans sticky rice is a Thai dessert.
The bean was first widely grown in the present-day United States after the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). However, initially the variety was primarily grown as a snap pea (for the edible seed pod).
It is also common to keep the boiled water of these beans (which acquires a black coloring) and consume it as a soup with other ingredients for seasoning (known as sopa negra, black soup, or as sopa de frijoles, bean soup), as a broth (caldo de frijol, bean broth) or to season or color other dishes (aforementioned gallo pinto, for example).
Anthocyanins
Black turtle beans contain anthocyanins in their dried seed coats, giving the beans their dark color.