This story is part of On Repeat, a series in which we ask top chefs, cookbook authors, and other famous foodies about the dishes they just can’t quit.
For this week’s edition of On Repeat, we’re chatting with Long Island–born ramen chef Ivan Orkin. When he’s not creating mind-blowing bowls of noodles at Ivan Ramen on Manhattan’s Lower East Side (you can see him in action on Chef’s Table), you might find him at home slurping a steaming bowl of a different sort.
Ready for a shocker? It’s beans. Ivan’s go-to recipe is actually a simple “no-recipe” pot of beans. His legumes of choice come from Rancho Gordo, and he points to their method for making a perfect pot of pintos—or whatever variety you choose.
Why I love it
“I eat a bowl of beans for breakfast most days of the week, and no one else in the family likes them. I’m the only one who eats it, so I’d say a half pound of beans makes four or five meals for me. I like it because it gives me the protein that I want in the morning, it’s light and clean, and I like the texture. I just turned 60, so I’ve been trying to eat lighter and cleaner, and not overeat.”
What I’ve changed
“You can fold all kinds of things into beans. You can use vegetable stock instead of water to cook your beans in, or you can add a sachet of dashi—we have a lot of vegetarian dashi packs from Japan that I like. I was in Spain recently, and I brought home some good oil and good vinegar, so I’ll add that and sea salt. A lot of times I don’t do much more than throw in a couple of hacked-up garlic cloves and good olive oil. Occasionally, I add chopped-up tomatoes and paprika and some sea salt.
“You can cook beans with all kinds of vegetables. My big thing is beans and greens. I usually have some hearty green, and I’ll chop that up and mix it into the beans. I’m also a pretty big chile head—I have a lot of dried chiles from Mexico and around the world—so I’ll grind those up and put in a handful.”
What else I’m into right now
Beautiful bread. In the old days, I’d eat Chips Ahoy. These days my treat is a slice of homemade bread with nut butter and jam. My splurge food is Bien Cuit rye and sunflower bread. I’ll take it home and slice it and put it in zip-lock bags in the freezer. I’ll eat that with nut butter and honey or a banana or some kind of jam.
Spicy salt. I’m into chunky salts and dried chiles right now. Sometimes I make salt and chile blends that are nice to have on the table and sprinkle on things. I have a lot of that on the counter.
Rancho Gordo beans. I’m a huge Rancho Gordo fan. I always have 5 or 6 pounds of their beans. They’re doing a lot of heirloom varieties that aren’t readily available. At $6 or $7 a pound, they’re pricier than supermarket beans, but for me it’s a worthwhile splurge.