Are Refried Beans FRIED?!

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Nope here's a recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-…

Yes they are fried. After they are stewed and mashed, they are friend in a pan in oil, traditionally in lard. The Merrian-Webster dictionary lists the definition of "fry" as "to cook in a pan or on a griddle over heat especially with the use of fat". So that counts as frying, although they're not deep fried like fried chicken or french fries.

Also, they are not fried twice, as the name "refried" suggests. This misconception comes from an incorrect translation of the Spanish "frijoles refritos". In Spanish the prefix "re" typically just adds emphasis and not imply doing something more than once as it usually does in English. "Refritos" does not mean "refried", it means well-fried or fried well, the same way "rebueno" does not mean "regood", it means "very good".

The term "fried" means to boil in oil. Just as in boiling with water, there are different way to fry something.

You can boil chicken or beef by totally immersing it in boiling water, or, you can braise it in a pan that only boils the food from the bottom, needing the cook to stir or turn the food over.

You can also fry food, like chicken and potato by completely immersing it in oil. This is called "deep frying. Or, you can fry food in a shallow pool of oil, stiring and turning as you go.

Refried beans ARE, in fact, fried, but not deep fried as you would do chicken or french fries. They are fried in a shallow pool and flour or some other kind of roux added as a thickener.

Re-fried beans are neither fried, nor fried-again.
Re-fried beans is a lose translation, it refers to beans cooked well with lots of fat.
Traditionally, the pinto beans are washed and soaked overnight in plain water. In the morning, they are rinsed, brought to a boil and let cook for hours on low heat. The result is very tender beans. The skin is normally burst during cooking.
After the beans are tender and soft, seasoning and lots of lard are added. The seasoning consists of salt, chili peppers, and ground cumin seeds. The beans are smashed with the back of a wooden spoon and stirred. The beans are cooked longer to make a uniform paste. The beans actually absorb the fat, adding texture and taste, the lard is not visible. Day old re-fried beans taste better.
You can also make re-fried beans using black beans. Re-fried black beans are not as popular as re-fried pinto beans.

In modern cooking, the beans are basically cooked in a pressure cooker and smashed in food processor. The seasoning and some vegetable oil is added for taste and texture. The beans are cooked longer to get acceptable consistency

A joke in Texas...Do you know why Mexicans make refried beans?
Because the don't fry them right the first time. Stupid huh?
Authentic refried beans are refried in bacon fat. oooh they are
sure good. This is how left over beans are done.

In a way, they are. They are already cooked pinto beans, that have some fat added to them and smashed as they are being re-heated in a pan till warm and smooth

No. They're just cooked twice. That's how they can come in varieties such as FAT FREE. Lard is used though in the varieties containing fat.

No, and they are very healthy