How to Make Moi Moi

How to make Moi Moi; dear lovers of beans have come here again, instead of you eating beans porridge always because you love beans so well, do you know you can make another sumptuous meal from beans?

Yes, you can make another healthy and balanced meal from beans apart from the regular beans porridge that you know.

Moi moi is a traditional Nigerian dish made from blended black-eyed beans (or peas) with ingredients like onions, pepper, and other spices of your choice.

Moi moi can be made in so many ways to suit individual preferences and dietary restrictions.

When making moi moi, some people add eggs, corned beef, or fish to the mixture for more flavor and nutrients.

However, some versions cater to vegetarian or vegan diets. This dish is very nutritious it is rich in protein from the black-eyed peas and other ingredients. It is also a very good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Because moi moi is a prevalent dish in Nigeria it is often served in celebrations, parties, and gatherings of any manner. This dish is considered a comfort food and can be enjoyed with no age or gender restrictions.

Ingredients Used for Moi Moi

The main ingredient for moi moi is the black-eye beans (although some persons may choose any other beans of their choice). For this recipe, these are the ingredients I will be using:

1. Black-eye Beans: You can use any other beans of your choice e.g. honey beans, brown beans, or any other.

2. Cooked Eggs: You may choose to ignore the use of eggs and fish or any other protein of your choice. Also, you can still combine the two ingredients to boast the nutrients and flavor of your moi-moi

3. Vegetable oil: Some persons make use of palm oil or coconut oil for extra flavor. Any oil you can lay your hands on that is Okay for you; please use it.

4. Onions: Onions make your food more favorable, so it is not an option not to use them.

5. Pepper (Red bell (Tatashe) or Scotch Bonnet): Whether habanero or any pepper of your choice is very okay, as far as it gives your food the taste you need.

6. Crayfish: this will make your moi moi so rich in nutrients as well as add flavor to your dish.

7. Seasoning Cubes and Salt: this will add taste to your dish.

How to Wash Your Beans for Moi Moi

Before I go into how to make moi moi let me show you how to easily wash your beans without the use of a food processor.

Step 1

Soak your beans in water after selecting them for 10-20 minutes. This is because dryer beans tend to be done faster when cooked compared to the less dry beans.

Step 2

After 20 minutes, peel the beans by rubbing them together between your palms until they shade off the beans’ outer coat.

When you notice that a good amount of the bean’s outer coat has been shaded off. Add enough water to the bean in the bowl, so that the outer coats can float for you to sieve.

Step 3

Continue with the peeling until you completely peel off all the outer coats of the beans and you are left with white clean beans after sieving. Then prepare to grind your clean beans with your ingredients as I will be stating in the next step.

Other Recipes to Try

Steps on How to Cook Moi Moi

Let me show how I made my fluffy and delicious, moi moi with these easy steps.

But before I start, make sure that all the utensils and equipment that you will be using are clean, because hygiene is very important when it comes to what we eat.

Step 4

Wash the pepper into the already washed peeled beans in a bowl (if you are using bell peppers make sure you split it to take off the seeds inside).

Add the Onions and crayfish. Pour them into your blender and blend them or take it to a commercial grinding mill for grinding.

Note: In Nigeria, some people render the service for grinding food stuff like beans, or tomatoes in large quantity for those has no blender at home, and get paid.

Step 5

After blending /grinding pour the batter into a bowl and seasoning cubes, salt, Vegetable oil, and water (or any protein stock if you have any). Stir and taste the mixture.

Note: If you blended the beans, that means you added water already no need for too much water to prevent the moi-moi from being too soft.

Step 6

For the cooking I will be using moi moi plates instead of leaves (traditionally, this is used because it adds more flavor to the moi moi), you can also cooking pouch or nylon.

For the cooking pot I will be using, I have added some tiny logs of plantain sticks to the bottom of the pot this is to prevent the plate from burning because of the heat from the pot.

Step 7

Scoop the batter into the plates, and add slices or full egg on top and cover, then drop each of them in the pot and add water (make sure the water doesn’t top the plates).

Cover the pot tightly and allow it to cook for about 40-50 minutes (with frequent checking to avoid the water being dried up, so you can add water at intervals).

After 50 minutes check if your moi moi is ready, carefully remove it from the plate, and enjoy it as a whole meal or a side dish with jollof Rice, fried Rice, bread, or any other meal of your choice. Eat it when it is a bit cool, not when it is still very hot.

How to Make Moi Moi | A Step-by-Step Guide