How to make lupini (tremoços)

Call them lupini in Italian, tremoços in portuguese, tormos in Arabic. It's a healthy snack in many Mediterranean countries. But don't buy them ready made. Preservatives gives them an awful taste !

Get a bag of dried lupini beans.

Dried lupini look like this.

Soak them in cold water overnight, or for 24h.

Remove the soaking water, and put them in a pot with fresh water. Bring to a boil.

After a couple of minutes of boiling, you will notice a dark foam gathering on top.

Just remove the foam as the lupini simmer.

Yuk. Dark foam.

Boil for about 40 minutes. Do not boil for much longer because the skin of the lupini will break away.

Drain the boiled lupinis.

Transfer to a big bowl and add fresh water.

Lupini are high in alkaloids. This gives the lupini a bitter taste. You will have to soak the lupini in fresh water , changing the water everyday or more if possible, to get rid of the alkaloids.

You may even leave a little water running all day.

You will have to soak and rinse for at least 7 days, or until the bitter taste has rinsed out. Bite in one and taste it. If its bitter, it's not ready ! Next steps will follow in about 7 days !

Lupini are ready. I've put them in containers.

Add fresh water.

And lotsa salt! If you dont put enough salt, they will rot. Once you are ready to eat them, you may rinse them in water if they ate too salty.