Moin Moin
Nigeria's steamed bean pudding: peeled black-eyed beans blended with pepper, palm oil and crayfish, ladled into ramekins and steamed soft.
Overview
Dried black-eyed beans soak briefly to loosen the skins. The skins rub off; the beans soak more to soften. They blend smooth with red pepper, onion, Scotch bonnet and a little water into a thick batter. Palm oil whisks in. Ground crayfish, a stock cube, salt and ground egusi (or breadcrumbs) bind. The batter portions into oiled ramekins (or banana leaf parcels). A hard-boiled egg half, a piece of smoked fish or a spoon of cooked beef goes into each. They steam in a wide pot 50-60 minutes until firm and set.
Ingredients
Bean base
- 300 g dried black-eyed beans (also called black-eyed peas)
- 250 ml warm water (for soaking)
Blender
- 1 red bell pepper (large, deseeded, chunked)
- 1 red onion (large, chunked)
- 1-2 Scotch bonnet chillies (to taste)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 cm fresh ginger
- 250 ml water
To finish the batter
- 100 ml red palm oil
- 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
- 1 stock cube (Maggi), crumbled
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs (helps the binding)
Embellishments (one per ramekin)
- 3 hard-boiled eggs (peeled, halved)
- 100 g cooked smoked fish (flaked) OR 100 g cooked minced beef
- Or a mix
To steam
- A wide deep pot
- 6 ramekins (small, 180 ml each, OR cleaned banana leaves)
- A round of foil to seal the pot
Method
Stage 1 - Peel the beans
- Place dried beans in a wide bowl; cover with hot water; soak 30 minutes.
- Drain. Working in batches, rub the beans firmly between your palms in fresh cool water - the skins lift off and float. Tip off the water with the skins.
- Repeat until most skins are gone (some persistent ones are fine).
- Soak the peeled beans in fresh water 30 more minutes; drain.
Stage 2 - Blend
- In a powerful blender, combine peeled beans, red pepper, red onion, Scotch bonnet, garlic, ginger and 250 ml water.
- Blend on high until completely smooth - 2-3 minutes (the texture should be like a thick pancake batter; no grit).
Stage 3 - Mix the batter
- Tip the batter into a wide bowl.
- Whisk in the palm oil - keep whisking until fully incorporated (the colour shifts to a glowing red-orange).
- Add ground crayfish, crumbled stock cube, salt, nutmeg and breadcrumbs.
- Stir to combine.
Stage 4 - Assemble
- Grease 6 small ramekins (or 180 ml heatproof tea cups, or banana leaf parcels).
- Pour the batter into each, leaving 1 cm of space at the top.
- Press an egg half (cut side down), a piece of smoked fish or a spoon of beef into the centre of each.
Stage 5 - Steam
- In a wide deep pot, set up a steamer rack (or place a folded tea towel in the bottom).
- Add 5 cm of water; bring to a simmer.
- Cover each ramekin with a small piece of foil.
- Place ramekins on the rack; the water should not touch them.
- Cover with a tight lid (an old saucer on top of foil makes a good seal).
- Steam 50-60 minutes - the moin moin is done when set firm, no jiggle in the centre.
- Top up the water as needed every 20 minutes.
Stage 6 - Cool and serve
- Lift out the ramekins; cool 10 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edge; invert onto a plate.
- Serve warm - with jollof rice, plain rice, ogi (corn porridge), or just bread.
Notes
- Skin removal is essential: Black-eyed bean skins make moin moin gritty and slightly bitter. The rubbing-and-floating-off method works; food processors with a pulse function also help. Skip this step at your peril.
- Banana leaves are the traditional vessel: They impart a faint grassy aroma. Frozen banana leaves are sold at African and Asian shops; pass briefly over a flame to make them pliable, then fold into envelopes.
- Palm oil emulsion: Whisking the palm oil thoroughly into the cold batter gives moin moin its smooth texture. Pouring it in unmixed at the end gives a separated oily layer.
Storage
- Refrigerate 4 days; reheat steamed for 10 minutes or in the microwave 1-2 minutes.
- Freezes 2 months; defrost overnight before reheating.
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