Hey everyone! I'm here again with another easy and beautiful recipe just for you to to try out and satisfy your taste buds. I hope you enjoy 😊
Moin-moin is the Nigerian bean cake pudding which is kind of related to the bean cakes which I showed you previously. It's a versatile meal as it can be eaten with rice, custard, bread, ketchup, stew and many other things you can imagine. It's preparation is similar to that of the bean cake but things are changed along the way.
Ingredients
Beans (black-eyed or brown)
Habanero (chilli) pepper in small quantity
Red bell pepper in medium quantity
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Crayfish
Hard boiled eggs
Mackerel
Salt
Seasoned cubes
Vegetable oil
Banana leaves
Preparation
Soak the beans for about 30 minutes or even more so it can soak properly. When it's done soaking and a bit soft, pour the water out and pour it into a mortar and pound the sides to easily peel off the skin. Ensure you don't pound the beans directly so it doesn't break to bits. Pounding is the easiest method of peeling the skin of the beans off. While the beans is being soaked, cut the stalks of the banana leaf off and wash the banana leaves thoroughly because that's what will be used to steam the pudding and it needs to be really clean.
When you're satisfied with the pounding and you're sure a lot of skin has been peeled off, scoop the beans out of the mortar into a big bowl and add enough water to fully cover the beans After that, massage it so the skin can float to the surface of the water and when you've gotten it out, pour the water and the skin out and wash the beans.
When you're done with washing, you then blend the beans with the both peppers (habanero and red bell), onions, garlic and ginger to the smoothest consistency you can get. While blending, boil your eggs alone while you boil your mackerel and blended crayfish together ( the blending of the crayfish isn't necessary, if you'd like the crayfish to be visible in your moin-moin, you don't need to blend it).
When you're done blending the beans, peppers, onions, garlic and ginger; pour the blended mixture into a bowl and add your other ingredients such as the salt, seasoned cubes, diced mackerel, vegetable oil and crayfish and mix together. Make sure you don't add the eggs to the combination until your done mixing and be sure not to add a lot of oil so it's doesn't get too oily.
Once you've mixed everything together, you wrap your banana leaf from the base ensuring the base is wrapped tight and the Apex is left open for the mixture to be poured in. Pour according to the quantity you want and put the egg inside (you can slice the egg into two equal halves) and bend the opening downwards. Ensure you wrap the base of the leaf really tight so the mixture can leak through it. Repeat the process with the other leaves.
When you're done wrapping the leaves, you line the base of the pot with the stalks of the banana leaf and put foil paper or a strong leather on top of it so the moin-moin mixture won't burn. After that, gently place the wrapped mixture in the pot, add an adequate amount of water, cover it and cook till it's done which should take about 45 mins to 1hr 30mins depending on the quantity of the wrapped moin-moin mixture. When it's done, unwrap and serve it hot and spicy.
Precautions to take while preparing this meal
Don't use tomatoes or tomato-based products to prepare this because it will make the moin-moin difficult to solidify.
Make sure you check the level of the water in the pot at least every 15 minutes to prevent the moin-moin from burning and top up the water level of the pot.
Ensure you wrap the banana leaf tightly so the moin-moin doesn't escape from openings and waste.
Do not add a lot of water in the blending of the beans and the other ingredients.
Do not add the eggs in the mixture. Add it after you've put the mixture in the banana leaf.
You can check if it's done by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the moin-moin. The toothpick should come out fairly clean and not moist.
You might be wondering why I use banana leaf instead of a nylon, paper foil or a plastic plate. The reason is because the banana leaf is natural and won't do any harm and it has been advised to use it because it's safer than using synthetic products like the nylon, plastic plate and paper foil. Please ensure you wash the leaves thoroughly so that it'll be germ free. You can add minced meat, bone marrow and vegetables like curry leaf and cent leaf to the ingredients of the mixture; it'll add a whole new special flavor to the moin-moin mixture. When the moin-moin is done, you can take it with custard, rice or anything you imagine taking it with.
It's a quite long process but it's cheap, easy and definitely worth it. I made sure to explain everything so you'll understand and I hope you do and try it out because trust me, you won't regret it. Thanks again for reading 😊
I cooked it for my husband. It turned out to be superb. Now I am the official cook for The Nigerian bean cake pudding in my house..Thank you for your recipe.