I picked these up from Rancho Gordo mostly out of practicality. I had chili on the brain and wanted a red bean in the mix, and once I actually looked at my pantry, I realized almost every bag I had on hand was white, black, brown, or speckled. Where were the red beans? So this was as much an experiment in filling a gap as it was curiosity about a new variety.
The backstory on these beans is what pulled me in once I started reading. Red Hidatsa beans were bred by the Hidatsa people, whose traditional territory sits along the upper Missouri River in what's now North Dakota. Rancho Gordo sources these through a partnership with Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College on the Fort Berthold Reservation, where a tribal seed rematriation program is working to rebuild and share the community's traditional seed stock. Knowing a bag of beans is tied to an active effort to keep a seed line alive makes the cooking feel like a small part of something bigger.
Texture is where this bean earns its reputation. The skin is thin, almost delicate, but the interior cooks up soft and creamy in a way that feels closer to a bean that's been simmering all day than one that just came out of a normal pot. My stovetop cook included soaking the beans overnight, then a piece of kombu for umami and to help with digestibility, a bay leaf, a blend of Mixteca and sea salt, and a drizzle of smoked olive oil. Once the pot came to a boil, I let it go for 10 minutes, then dropped it down to the lowest heat and let it cook for an hour and 20 minutes. I am going to fight the internet on this one. It’s famed for having a rich broth - I was not a fan. I drained it completely off and did not look back.
This was the first time I'd ever cooked only half a bag instead of the whole pound, since I wasn't sure where I could slot a full batch of leftovers into my meal plan for the rest of the week. Huge regret. I used the first batch in the chili that night, then turned the rest into a quick bean salad the next day, and by the time that was gone I was already craving more. There was no leftover problem to solve. The problem was that I hadn't cooked enough in the first place.
Between the chili and the salad, these beans made a case for themselves twice in two days, and I'm already planning to reorder and keep them stocked as a staple of my bean pantry going forward.
