The Syrian Shabbat dinner table is based around a centerpiece of white rice and an accompanying meaty, saucy side dish. There are always main dishes, like chicken or brisket, but the soupy, saucy side is the draw. These saucy sides are simple but jam-packed with flavor and texture. Some families go heavy, treating them like soup, and others tend to use the sauce to garnish their whole plate. (I am firmly in the super-saucy camp, but my brother takes it to a new level, drinking his broth from a glass!)
There are three main saucy sides, all with very different flavor profiles:
- Hamud, a lemony, minty broth filled with vegetables and meatballs, is probably the most popular.
- Keftes, pillowy beef meatballs in spiced, tamarind-laced tomato sauce comes in second.
- But my favorite, fasulye (aka fasulieh), is the sleeper hit of the three. Fasulieh is a slow-cooked, rib-sticking stew of white beans, tomato paste and aromatics. It’s studded with tender shreds of veal or flanken. Marrow bones take center stage, lending richness and heft to an otherwise humble dish. Way back when, this was an inexpensive dish that could be stretched to feed a whole family — marrow bones were given away for free!
While hamud and keftes are generally prepared year-round, fasulye is earmarked for cozy season. It’s perfect for a winter Shabbat evening, when dinner is bookended by cards and board games. Since this is a long-cooking dish with little hands-on time, I often time the cooking so that I can turn off the flame just before I light my Shabbat candles. I can focus on preparing my home and table for Shabbat with the delicious smell of slowly-cooking stew in the background. I have to admit, I sometimes break tradition and prepare this on a freezing, snowy Sunday. It’s perfect snow day food — comforting and delicious, with only one pot to wash!
While this recipe has several steps, it’s generally low-fuss. Don’t be tempted to add all of the ingredients at once! Simmering the bones and flanken with the aromatics makes for a rich and flavorful base. The beans are cooked to al dente in the homemade broth, allowing them to absorb the flavor before thickening the stew with tomato. Adding the tomato too soon will prevent the beans from fully softening and becoming creamy.
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Some families skip the pinch of cinnamon, but I find it adds delicious warmth to the stew. It’s barely detectable and so delicious.
Note: This dish freezes beautifully! Freeze flat in ziplock bags or deli-style quart containers. Reheat directly from frozen in a saucepan over a low flame, adding 2-3 Tbsp water to loosen.
This article was produced as part of The Nosher’s Jewish Food Fellows Program, which aims to diversify the voices telling Jewish food stories in media spaces.
Fasulye Recipe
This low-fuss, one-pot Syrian stew is made for cold winter weekends.
- Total Time: 11 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the beans:
- 16 oz dried Great Northern beans
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 qt filtered water
For the stew:
- 1 lb marrow bones
- 1–1.5 lb bone-in flanken (thicker pieces preferred)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- lemon wedges, for garnish
Instructions
- Start by preparing the beans. Pour beans onto a tray or plate and pick through for any debris or broken beans. Add cleaned beans, baking soda and water to a large bowl. Cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 8-10 hours.
- Before cooking, remove and discard any bean skins that have floated to the top of the bowl. Drain and rinse beans and set aside.
- To make the stew, add marrow bones, flanken, onion, garlic and seasonings to a 6-quart Dutch oven. Pour 10 cups of filtered water into the pot and stir to distribute onion and garlic. Place the lid halfway on the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1-1½ hours. At this point, the onions will have started to soften and the meat will begin to pull away from the bones. Skim any fat or foam off the top of the pot using a slotted spoon. Add the beans, stir, replace the lid slightly ajar and bring to a bare simmer.
- Simmer for another hour, or until the beans start to soften. A bean smashed against the side of the pot will show slight resistance. The stew will start to take on a cloudy texture.
- At this point, adding tomato will not inhibit the softening of the beans. Gently whisk in the tomato paste, adding another cup of water if the level has dipped dramatically. Simmer, with the pot partially covered, 45 minutes- 1 hour, until the stew is a deep red, and the meat and beans are fork tender.
- Before serving, skim off any surface fat by carefully pressing a paper towel to the top of the pot. Remove the marrow and flanken bones. Shred the flanken meat with two forks or (optional) for an extra rich dish, gently prop up the whole pieces of flanken on the beans so they are at the surface. Bake the stew uncovered at 375°F for 45 minutes. The meat will start to brown and caramelize along with the top layer of beans. Carefully shred the flanken into the stew.
- Serve in shallow bowls over white rice with lemon wedges as garnish.
Notes
This dish freezes beautifully! Freeze flat in ziplock bags or deli-style quart containers. Reheat directly from frozen in a saucepan over a low flame, adding 2-3 Tbsp water to loosen.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes + 8-10 hours soaking time
- Cook Time: 3 hours-3 hours 45 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Jewish
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