Nigerian bean pudding also known as Moi-moi is a steamed or boiled pudding made from properly washed, peeled and grounded beans with onions, fresh red peppers, spices. Proteins like fish, eggs, and/or crayfish are also added.
It is a highly portentous Yoruba food that is commonly eaten across West Africa.
Ingredients
3 cups of beans
A cup of Crayfish
1 kg of Mackerel
7 Eggs (boiled) (optional)
Seasoning cubes
Salt
1 sizeable onion
Fresh pepper
Tatashe or shobo (optional)
Vegetable oil
You can use the cooked eggs or fish of any kind. You can also use the both if you wish. Simply parboiled the fish, removed the center bones and split into smaller pieces
Procedures
Step 1
After selecting the dirt and stones from the beans put it in a mortar, sprinkle a handful of water and use a pestle to pound.
If you do not have a mortar and pestle, you could use a bowl. Pour in your beans in a bowl sprinkle a handful of water and start squeezing with your hands (as in you are washing clothes).
This process should be done in 20 minutes.
Step 2
When it seems like a good amount of the beans have shaded off their outer-coat, add enough water to fill the bowl. The outer coat would float on top, drain it out and continue squeezing.
At some point there would be just very few that have not shaded off their outer coat, work on them and keep washing.
Wash the beans to remove the outer coat, keep squeezing, washing and sieving till you are left with the white beans then prepare for the grinding.
While you’re preparing for grinding, parboil the fresh /frozen fish and eggs and cut to your preferred sizes.
Step 3
Split the red tatashe or shombo into two halves to remove the seeds at the center, this is necessary because the seeds add a bitter taste to moi-moi.
Put the beans, onions, fresh pepper, crayfish and tatashe or shobo (optional)) in a small clean bowl with cover and take to the commercial grinding mill.
You can use a smart blender if you have one
Step 4
While still in the bowl, pour in the 125ml oil into the grounded beans, season with seasoning cubes and salt to taste, add the fish stock (this shouldn’t be in large quantity). Stir and taste the entire mixture.
Step 5
Distribute in as many tins/plates as possible, moi-moi leaves or wraps as possible into the cooking pot. While distributing the beans, add a piece of the boiled egg and fish in each.
If you are cooking with plates or waterproof, you can drop the plates on top of each other but you must drop tiny logs of woods or stem of the moi-moi leaves at the bottom of the pot to avoid burning the plate.
Step 6
Add water to the pot making sure it doesn’t top the first plate. Then cover tightly and cook for about 40 to 60 minutes adding water at interval to avoid burning or too much water that would run into the plates.
Monitor closely so the pot doesn’t dry up and melt the plates especially if you are using plastic plates.
Note that plastic plates can cook for hours without melting or getting burned, the exception is when the pot is completely dried.
Step 7
You can bring out one of the plates after cooking for 40 minutes to check if it is done, check again after ten minutes, once it is done, allow to cool off for 30-60 minutes; then serve with pap (akamu), rice or custard.
