Description
Nigerian moi-moi is savory and scrumptious. Obviously, one of the best dishes to come out of Nigeria (and African.) Serve with rice, avocado, boiled (as above) or just enjoy by itself. Moi-moi is a deliciousness of miracle.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb. of beans or 16 OZ black-eye peas bag
- 2 Maggi cubes
- 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ of big onions bulb or one small onion
- 3 oz. tomato paste
- 2 small bell peppers
- ½ teaspoon Nigerian red pepper or any other red chili for a little spice
- ½ teaspoon ground Nutmeg
- ¼ of cup of vegetable oil
- 1 – 2 tablespoon ground crayfish (optional)
- Two cloves of garlic
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- 3 cups of water (for blending)
Instructions
- Peel or deskin the beans this way.
- Wash/clean onions, bell pepper, garlic and set aside. Open the tin tomato paste as well.
- Get a big clean mixing bowl, set aside. Gently start blending the already deskinned/peeled/washed beans by adding to the blender some beans, onions, pepper, garlic and small tomato paste plus water (yes, I like adding my tomato paste alongside the other ingredients and blending everything.) As you blend, pour the mixture into the big mixing bowl. Repeat the above process to blend the whole beans about three times or so. (For the amount of beans in the recipe it takes me about 2½ -3 cups of water to blend.)
- After blending, place a big pot on the stove on low heat and add small some water (about 1 – 1½ cups. If you have a steamer, it would work better for this purpose.
- In the big mixing bowl add all the other condiments; salt, curry powder, red pepper, nutmeg, vegetable oil and crush in the Maggi. Also, add ground crayfish if you are going to be using it.
- Use a wooden spatula to give a good stir to combine all the ingredients. Taste to ensure flavors are how you love them before proceeding. For this final process, you need moi-moi wrapper (basically something you will use to wrap the paste before you steam. Some people use banana leaves, foil, or moi-moi pouches.
- Use a spoon or cup and gently scoop some moi-moi paste into the moi-moi pouch. Ensure that each bag has an equal amount of paste for even cooking time. Zip up/close tight and then place it inside the pot/steamer (that is on the stove). Repeat the process until you scoop up all the entire mix, cover the pot and turn the heat from low to medium-high. As the “steaming,” continues the water will be reduced; ensure to keep adding water to the pot to avoid drying/burning.
- Cook for about 30-35 minutes or until moi-moi is ready (and you will know that it is ready by opening one of them and cutting right through. It will be firmer, and the color would have intensified a bit.) If still in doubt cook the moi-moi to the maximum cooking time! After turning off, remove pot and place on a tray to cool down. Serve by itself, with rice, avocado or Nigerian stew.
Notes
You have to be very careful if you are using the blender to de-skin the beans because you do not want to blend it entirely in that process (with the skin on.)
Do not fill up moi-moi cooking pouch to the brim. About 65 – 75% full is ideal.☺
Handle hot moi-moi bags with care.
Moi-moi Cooking time usually depends on the quantity of paste inside an individual wrap; for instance one-cup wrap will cook faster than two-cup wrap.
