Large, buttery white beans stewed slowly with smoked chorizo, morcilla and pork belly until the broth thickens.
What makes it fabada asturiana
Fabes de la Granja, or other large white beans.
The compango: smoked chorizo, morcilla and pork belly.
Simmered very gently, the pot shaken rather than stirred.
Where it comes from
It's the dish of Asturias, in the rainy north, where the fabes — big, soft white beans — grow. The meats, together called the compango, are smoked Asturian chorizo, morcilla and cured pork belly, and they flavour the beans without being the point.
The beans must never boil hard or be stirred, or their skins split; cooks shake the pot instead and add cold water now and then to 'scare' them.