Vegan Frijoles Charros

Instructions

1. 1
   If using home-cooked pot beans, make sure they are tender and swimming in a good amount of their own thick starch broth. If using canned, do not rinse them; we want that liquid to thicken our stew.
2. 2
   Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot over medium heat for about a minute until hot.
3. 3
   Toss in the chopped white onion and the diced jalapeño or serrano pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion becomes sweet and translucent.
4. 4
   Add the minced garlic and cook for just 1 additional minute, taking care not to let it scorch or turn bitter.
5. 5
   Stir the diced ripe tomatoes into the pot. Cook for 5-6 minutes, crushing them slightly with your wooden spoon so they release their juices and break down into a glossy, thick, jammy paste.
6. 6
   Stir in the ground cumin and rub the dried Mexican oregano between your palms directly into the pot, combining thoroughly with the aromatic paste.
7. 7
   Pour the 4 cups of beans along with all their cooking liquid straight into the pot. Stir gently to merge the flavors.
8. 8
   If the mixture appears too thick, pour in a cup of vegetable stock or water; the final soup should be loose and scoopable but body-rich, exactly like the broth in the file "Frijoles charros veganos.png".
9. 9
   Taste the broth and season with fine sea salt to your liking. Raise the heat to bring the soup to a proper boil.
10. 10
    Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer gently for 12-15 minutes so the beans absorb the sofrito compounds and the soup reaches a cohesive consistency.
11. 11
    Ladle the steaming hot beans into a clean, deep, round white ceramic soup bowl.
12. 12
    To perfectly emulate the presentation layout from your file "Frijoles charros veganos.png", pick a fresh, symmetric sprig of cilantro and lay it flat right on top of the soup's center before serving hot.