Hearts of Palm and Lupin beans Vegan Ecuadorian Ceviche

On the left this is picture of  Anita, The Chef at Scalesia lodge at Isabella Island at Galapagos, Ecuador.  As promised earlier, I am going to post my very first video recipe of Ceviche, which is very popular in Ecuador. We just came back from our wonderful trip to Ecuador, Galapagos island and Amazon Rain forest.  In Galapagos we stayed at this wonderful lodge Scalesia on Isabella Island.  The chef of Scalesia Lodge Anita  and our  Gate1 Tour guide Paul, Aguilar (who is very knowledgeable and made this trip so much fun for all of us) together  they did a live presentation of how to make Ceviche with shrimp and for vegetarian version with palm of heart and Lupin beans.  Anita did not speak English so Paul is translating as she is doing the  demonstration on how to put the Ceviche togethe. Ceviche  (Spanish pronunciation:  is a Latin American dish typically made from fresh raw fish cured in fresh citrus juices, most commonly lime  or lemon. It is also spiced with aji, chili peppers  or other seasonings, and julienned red onions, salt, and cilantro are also added.

Because the dish is eaten raw and not cooked with heat, it must be prepared fresh and consumed immediately to minimize the risk of food poisoning^,  Ceviche is often eaten as an appetizer; if eaten as a main dish, it is usually accompanied by side dishes that complement its flavors, such as sweet potato, lettuce, maize, avocado or cooking banana^.

The dish is popular in the Pacific coastal regions of western South  America The origin of ceviche is from the ancient Moche culture and Vicus culture,  which today corresponds to the modern day countries of Peru and Ecuador^.  The technique of macerating raw fish and meat in vinegar, citrus, and spices escabeche was brought to the Americas from Spain and is linked to the Muslim heritage in Spanish cuisine. However, archeological records suggest that something resembling ceviche may have been indigenous to western South America as early as 2,000 years ago. 

First I am going to talk about these Lupin beans.  These are very rich in protein (40% of protein) and very nutritious.  We had these beans there and they are pretty good and I was impressed with the amount of protein that handful of beans can provide you.  Needless to say we had these beans in Ecuador in soups, salads and of course vegetarian version of Civeche.

Lupinus mutabilis is a species of  lupin grown in the Andes  mainly for its edible bean. Vernacular names include tarwi (in Quechaa II  pronounced tarhui), chocho, altramuz, Andean lupin, South American lupin, Peruvian field lupin, and pearl lupin. Its nutrient-rich seeds are high in protein, as well as a good source for cooking oil. However, their bitter taste has made L. mutabilis relatively unknown outside the Andes, though modern technology makes it easier to remove the bitter alkaloids Like other species of lupin beans, it is expanding in use as a plant-based protein source. 

The origin of L. mutabilis has been identified in the Andean region of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. In this area, the greatest genetic variability in the world was found. The plant has been domesticated for more than 1500 years, mostly because of its high protein content.

The bone-white seed contains more than 40% protein and 20% fat and has been used as a food by Andean people since ancient times, especially in soups, stews, salads and by itself mixed with boiled maize.  Like other legumes, its protein is rich in the essential amino acid lysine. The distribution of essential fatty acids is about 28% linoleic acid (omega-6) and 2% linolenic acid (omega-3). It has a soft seed coat that makes for easy cooking. It may not have been more widely used because of its bitter taste, due to the alkaloid content. It contains unusually high amounts of sparteine, which make up nearly half of its alkaloid content. However, the alkaloids are water-soluble and can be removed by soaking the seeds for some days in water.  QAs are heat-stable toxins; cooking alone does not remove the alkaloids^. Like other species of lupin beans,  chocho beans are expanding in use as a plant-based protein source in the world marketplace^.

L. mutabilis contains 42% of protein and 18% fat in average. The high fat content has allowed commercial oil pressing. The protein digestibility and nutritional value are reportedly similar to those in soybeans. 

There are two kinds of Lupin beans:

• There’s a bitter variety that takes longer to prepare as it needs to be soaked for several days in water, and water needs to be changed every few hours or at least every day. Then the beans need to be cooked, and if they’re still bitter then they need to be soaked again in water.
• The other kind of lupin beans is sweet, these beans are not literally sweet but they’re not bitter either (the variety is just called sweet). They can be prepared quickly, by just soaking them in water for a few hours, then they’re cooked for 30 minutes or until they’re sort of soft and yellow in color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is the recipe on the link below on google photos, I hope you can open it, as I as not able to post the videos on this post, I hope you have fun watching it.  Please let me know, and if you have any questions..

Enjoy !

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6UFXuq7Lf6Fky98c6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hn2wbBRLDX1chZXL8

My Sincere Thanks to  Anita  at Scalesia lodge at Isabella Island at Galapagos, Ecuador. and our  Gate1 Tour guide Paul, Aguilar for above video demonstration of recipe. 

If you have hard time opening this here is a similar recipe I found on line you can follow it with following adaptation with as-trick signs in front of it.  Following recipe is courtesy of Vegetarian ceviche de chochos https://www.laylita.com/recipes/vegetarian-ceviche-de-chochos/

Vegetarian ceviche de chochos

Ceviche de chochos is a vegetarian ceviche made with chocho beans (lupini beans), onions, tomatoes, cilantro, limes, oranges and tomato sauce. It is served with maiz tostado, chifles or plantain chips, avocados and hot sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cooked and cured chochos or lupini beans 
  
• 1 red onion thinly sliced (julienned)
  
• 2-3 tomatoes thinly sliced
• Juice of 2 oranges 
• * One can of heart of palm sliced with its brine*
• * 2  cups of  Sliced mushrooms of your choice, slightly sauteed but not overcooked*
  
• Juice of one or two large limes
• *Chopped Jalapenos to taste*
  
• 1 small bunch of cilantro finely chopped (wild cilantro as per Anita and Paul's video)
• * Peanut sauce * to taste
  
• * Hot sauce * to tastes
  
• 1 tbs of light olive oil you can use regular olive oil  
  
• ¼ – ½ cup of tomato sauce or ketchup adjust according to your preference
• Salt to taste
• * Black Pepper *  to taset
  

Garnishes:

• Roasted corn or   corn nuts
• Chifles or plantain chips
• Avocado
• Aji or hot sauce
• * You can add chopped raw or ripe mango as toppings too*
  

Instructions

• Place the sliced red onions in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt (about 1 tablespoon) and cover with warm water. Let them soak for about 10 minutes, then drain the water and rinse well with cold water. This will help remove the bitterness from the onions.
• Combine the washed red onions, tomato slices, chochos, Heart of palm, Mushrooms,  tomato sauce or ketchup, chopped cilantro, Jalapeno peppers,  lime juice, orange juice, peanut sauce olive oil and salt and pepper to taste
  
• Let the chocho ceviche marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator before serving.
• Serve cold with  corn nuts, green plantain chips, avocado /Mango and hot sauce.
   
  Hint: Lupin beans are available in Jars in Italian or middle eastern store. If  you buy dry Lupin beans,  there are tons of instructions on line how to cook them safely, basically you need to soak them overnight and then pressure cook them like any another beans. 
  

Credits: 

Again My Sincere Thanks to  Anita  at Scalesia lodge at Isabella Island at Galapagos, Ecuador. and our  Gate1 Tour guide Paul, Aguilar for above video demonstration of recipe.

Above recipe adapted from Vegetarian ceviche de chochos https://www.laylita.com/recipes/vegetarian-ceviche-de-chochos/

Picture of Ceviche courtsey of http://wildgreensandsardines.com/2020/03/lupini-bean-ceviche-recipe.html 

Picture of soaked Lupin beans courtesy of https://littlesunnykitchen.com/lupini-beans/

Information source of Lupin beans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_mutabilis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License