Lokanta Staple · Bean Stew over Rice

Kuru Fasulye

Photo: Miansari66 / Wikimedia Commons · CC0

Many Turkish cooks insist on serving it with pilaf and pickles, and the three together are a standard weekday lunch at tradesmen's restaurants across the country.

Dried white beans are simmered for hours in a tomato-and-pepper-paste sauce with cubes of beef or pastırma until the sauce turns thick and glossy, ladled over buttered rice and served with pickles on the side. No-frills "kuru fasulyeci" counters in Istanbul and Ankara serve almost nothing else.

Why it's made this way: Kuru fasulye with rice is often called Turkey's unofficial national dish; Istanbul's Süleymaniye and the eastern town of Erzincan have the best-known versions.