Malarrabia — Peru

Malarrabia is a Peruvian dish built around mashed beans, usually served alongside white rice, slices of fried ripe plantain and a fried egg, sometimes completed with shredded dried salted meat known as cecina. The combination sits closer to hearty home food than to a refined restaurant plate, and it is valued for being filling and inexpensive. It is reported from Peru, where it appears as a home-style dish rather than a restaurant specialty, and, according to sources, it belongs to a broader family of Peruvian dishes that pair mashed or stewed beans with rice and fried plantain. It is said to be more common in some households than in others, depending on regional habits around beans and plantain. To prepare it, dried beans are cooked until tender and then mashed, keeping some texture rather than turning them into a smooth purée. The mash is warmed through with sautéed onion, garlic and a little cumin, while separately ripe plantains are sliced and fried until golden and eggs are fried to be served on top. Some cooks stir a splash of the reserved bean cooking liquid back in to loosen the mash before serving. Households vary the bean variety used, the seasoning of the mash, and whether cecina or another meat is added, but the base combination of mashed beans, rice, fried plantain and a fried egg is what is generally recognized as malarrabia, a plate meant to be eaten warm with all its parts together.