Description
Nigerian moi moi, also spelled Moin moin, is steamed bean pudding. This simple but very delicious dish is one of the most famous African street foods. Nigerian moi-moi is savory and scrumptious. Obviously, one of the best dishes to come out of Nigeria (and African.) Serve with rice, boiled eggs, or just enjoyed by itself. Moi-moi is a deliciousness that satisfies.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of beans or 16 OZ black-eye peas bag
- 2 (Nigerian) Maggi cubes or 2 teaspoons of Knorr seasoning powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ of big onions bulb or one small onion
- 3 oz. tomato paste
- 1 big red bell pepper or 2 small red bell peppers
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper or ½ teaspoon Nigerian red pepper/cayenne
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg
- ¼ of cup of olive oil
- 1 – 2 tablespoon ground crayfish (optional)
- 2–3 cloves of garlic
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- 3 cups of water (for blending)
Instructions
- Wash and Peel Beans. Peeling or deskining the beans may be a daunting task if you have never done it before. First, soak your beans by placing them in a big bowl and filling with water. Then, use this easy method to peel your beans and set it aside.
- Prep the Vegetables; wash/cut onions, bell pepper, and scotch bonnet (habanero), peel garlic and set aside. Open the tomato paste can as well. Set aside.
- Blend the beans (and the ingredients). Place the peeled/washed beans into the blender alongside some onions, bell pepper(s), scotch bonnet pepper(s), garlic, tomato paste and water. (Note: I like adding tomato paste alongside the other ingredients during the blending process). Blend until the mixture is pureed and smooth, then pour into a big clean mixing bowl. Repeat the process to blend the entire beans. (Note: for the amount of beans in the recipe it takes me about 2½ -3 cups of water to blend).
- Prep water for steaming moi-moi. Place a big pot on the stove on low heat and add some water (about 1 – 1½ cups. If you have a steamer, it would work better for this purpose. Alternatively, boil water in a separate small/medium pot.
- Season your beans paste. Add the condiments; salt, curry powder, thyme, nutmeg, olive oil, Maggi or Knorr to the mixing bowl with the blended beans paste. Also, add ground crayfish if you are going to be using it, I did not use crayfish for this recipe). Use a spatula to give a good stir to combine all the ingredients. Taste to ensure flavors are how you love them before proceeding.
- Wrap your seasoned moi moi paste. For this process, you need moi-moi wrapper (basically something you will use to wrap the paste before you steam them. Some people use banana leaves, foil, or moi-moi pouches (which is what I will use today). 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 the entire paste, 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.
- Optional step for bigger batches: If you had boiled water in a separate pot when you were preparing the water for steaming… then place all wrapped moi moi pouches into a big pot and then gently pour the boiled hot water on them, turn on the heat to medium and steam. This method is particularly best for anyone double-batching this recipe or making huge amount of moi moi because you want them to start cooking at the same time.
- Cook/Steam Moi Moi. Cook for about 35-40 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 and enjoy by itself, with rice and stew, jollof rice, plantains, garri, etc.
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). The food processor works well too!
Please note that adding ground crazy may cause your moi to have a slight fishy taste. If you plan to entertain with this, remember that some people may not eat fish. To cater to everyone’s needs, I suggest leaving crayfish out.
I do not add crayfish because I typically take moi-moi leftovers to the office, and I do not want others to be uncomfortable with the fishy aroma, LOL.
Do not fill up moi-moi cooking pouches 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 wraps.
