Eastern Feast - Peruvian Chochos, Mini Lupini (Tarwi) Beans, 2 Lbs (908g)

Unfortunately this product is receiving a bad reputation due to people not understanding or taking the time to research what lupinis are and how to prepare them. Yes, they are indeed bitter if you think that they are a regular bean and prepare them as such. Should one take the time to investigate, one will discover how to prepare them, which takes 4-5 days of rinsing and soaking before actually cooking them. Once done, there’s no bitterness and I would summarize that one will become addicted to the bean; I have 😋

These are not pre prepped. I found out there is a ton of work to soak and rinse these for weeks to make them edible after purchasing. I went threw all the work and they still were not edible. I found that if they are bitter they can be toxic. So I kept waiting it out but they never weren't bitter.

Oh my goodness - these beans are delicious! They hint of very mild savory with a delightful nutty finish! I honestly can't stop popping them into my mouth 😆 "What should potential customers know" about these? They need to know how to properly prepare them, and that patience is the first step! You MUST soak them long enough to remove the alkaloids. That's what makes them bitter out of the gate. The good news is that alkaloids ARE water soluble, so it CAN be done - IF you have the patience to see it through. Potential Concerns: Some folks mentioned that they sprouted while soaking... Well, of course they did! They are, in fact, legumes - and legumes are seeds. When you soak seeds in water, they sprout! But fear not: everything is ok! And the tiny sprouts won't advance much beyond half an inch - IF they get that long. Others said they were spoiled, or rotten. They were neither: they were fermenting. That's nature's way of telling you to change the water sooner next time. Still more said the beans were still bitter... If they ARE still bitter after soaking them for what YOU thought was a sufficient amount of time? Remember: beans don't care what you think! You didn't soak them long enough. Here's what I did... Step 1 I used a spaghetti pot with suspended strainer. 1 lb. of beans went into the strainer (reserving the 2nd for another time) and I filled the pot with cold water until there was slightly more (honestly, as much as the pot would hold) water over the beans as under. Step 2 About 3X/ day, I pulled the strainer out, rinsed the pan, and rinsed the beans in just the strainer before returning to the pot and refilling with water. (BTW, my process took 2 weeks.) Step 3 After the 1st 4 days, I began adding a generous amount of kosher salt to the water at each change. Keep in mind that after the 1st few days, they may start smelling a bit 'ripe but they are NOT going bad! Just change the water out and remember to do it sooner moving forward. (Remember: they're fermenting - not rotting.) Side note: Some say you should boil them at this point but I waited till the end. Step 4 After about 8 or 9 days, I added about ¼ cup lemon juice at the water changes, for 2 days, then only water from there (no salt either). Step 5 On day 14, I drained and rinsed the beans, put them in a pot and covered with about 4" of water (no strainer this time). Brought that to a very rapid boil for about 5 minutes, then simmered for 50. Step 6 After killing the heat, I let it cool for about 20 minutes, then drained in pot (toothpicks under the lid make this work beautifully). The Finishing Line: Now, I can do with them as I please, but as I said earlier: I can't keep my fingers out of the pot! Making a dinner salad with leftover chicken tonight, and it'll include a good handful for some nutty crunch - yum!! What's left over will be divided between a brine I made (and stored in the fridge) and the air fryer for a dry snack. I suspect neither will last long...

The process to properly prepare these beans take at least a week. If you look for recipes on how to prepare lupini beans most recipes recommend soaking the dried beans for 4-7 days. It takes that length of time to get the bitterness out of the beans and also not to poison yourself. I have no idea why a lot of people are saying that it takes 48 hours. That is not true if you take 48 hours there’s a possibility that you may poison yourself so please folks please read or look for recipes to properly prepare these beans because I believe it’s worth it. Out of the 2 pound bag I just used a quarter of it. The hydrated beans yield looks good I’m very very happy with the results. It took me seven days like I mentioned earlier to the debitter the beans now I’m at the point of the process where I need to brine my beans I’ll let you know how it turns out. Good luck to all.

So I had no idea what the process was for making these edible when I ordered them in for those that don't know you have to soak them for 1 to 2 days boil them for an hour and then spend 4 days changing the water every 8 hours on them before they are edible, but once you spend a week doing all of that you have a whole lot of these beans and they do freeze well and it's dramatically cheaper than ordering them in the jars. They taste very good I made a big batch of chili with them didn't seem to have the effects of normal beans after eating a bunch of chili they do have a texture more similar to edamame than a normal beam. But good product if you're willing to put in the work to make the edible.

It takes about 24 to 48 hours to soak then when you cook it, it takes about 2 to 3 hours to soften up and no matter the seasonings you put in it. It still comes out bitter. It is a bitter bean in itself.

Very tasty beans

These Eastern Feast - Peruvian Chochos are extremely bitter and inedible when cooked like normal beans. There are no cooking instructions on the package, so I assumed I could prepare them like other bean varieties and soaked them for several hours during the day, and then cooked them in my Instant Pot until they seemed done. It wasn’t until I tasted one and found it too bitter to swallow that I went looking for more information. From what I can tell, these are a great quality chochos for those knowledgable and able to spend the weeks needed to prepare them properly.