Moi Moi is a popular Nigerian food. Moi Moi or moin moin as some people call it is steamed beans pudding which originated from Western Nigeria.

It used to be termed Yoruba food because it is commonly eaten by people from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria before it became a popular food eaten even in other West African countries such as Ghana and Sierra Leone.

It is a protein-rich food made with peeled beans, groundnut oil, onions, fish, eggs , cayenne pepper and scotch bonnet pepper for extra spiciness.

Yoruba people are also popular for their love for spicy foods. Infant there is a saying in Yoruba land

“Emi ti jata,emi yep ere ni” meaning anyone who does not eat peppers is not fortified enough.

Making Moi moi a little bit spicy is to compulsory and you can cook it without adding scotch bonnet pepper. But you must add Cayenne pepper popularly known as “shombo” in Yoruba language.

As we continue with this recipe, I will tell you the reason why shombo is a compulsory ingredient but  first let me tell you another reason why moi moi is a widely accepted and loved food.

Moi moi is widely loved because apart from the fact that it make one full fast, it also combines well with many Nigerian staple delicacies or food. Some popular moi moi combinations are;

• moi moi and garri
• moi moi and pap
• moi moi and bread
• moi moi and white rice with stew
• moi moi and custard
• moi moi and jollof rice
• moi moi and fried rice
• moi moi and coconut rice
• moi moi and palm oil rice or native rice

This list of moi moi food combinations are by no means exhaustive so feel free to leave a comment about the other types of moi moi food combinations you eat and like.

Traditionally, moi moi is steamed in leaves which are commonly referred to as moi moi leaves. This method of cooking is the reason for the name “moi moi elewe” which means moi moi cooked in leaves.

Apart from the fact that moi moi elewe is environmentally friendly because the leaves are biodegradable, Moi moi steamed in leaves taste different because the flavour of the leaves are infused into the moi moi during the steaming period.

The native name for moi moi leaves is “ewe eran” but in cases where ewe eran is not available some people also use “ewe Ogede”- banana leaves.

There are other alternatives to cooking with leaves because of the complexity of folding moi moi leaves properly to contain the moi moi paste without spilling (Click Here to watch how I fold my moi moi leaves perfectly) and also the scarcity or lack of access to the leaves for those who live outside Nigeria or far from the market where it is sold.

Some of the convenient alternatives to cooking with moi moi leaves are;

• moi moi pouch
• moi moi cups
• Aluminum foil bowls
• stainless steel bowl
• Baking pans

This is one of my beans flour recipes and it is one of the easiest method to make moi moi because you don’t have to bother with a lot of steps in the traditional moi moi recipe but you still get a great tasting moi moi at the end.

Yes, this recipe is about how to use beans flour for moi moi and all the ingredients are stated below.

Ingredients

250 grams beans flour

170grams Corned beef

2 eggs

½ bundle moi moi leaves

1 medium sized onions

¼ cup groundnut oil

4½table spoon salt

2½cups room temperature water

½ tablespoon seasoning

2 scotch bonnet peppers ( ata rodo)

4 cayenne pepper (shombo)

Preparation time : 30 minutes

Cooking time : 30 minutes

Yield : 6 Moi moi Elewe

Preparation

• Get a big bowl half filled with water
• Add 4 tablespoons of salt to the water and mix well until it dissolves
• Put Moi moi leaves into the salty water and clean both sides of each leaf with the water
• Dispose the dirty water after cleaning all the leaves with the salty water
• Fill the bowl with another batch of fresh clean water and clean the leaves again
• Set aside the clean leaves
• Cut the corned beef into small sizes and set aside
• Rinse your blender jug
• Clean the peppers in clean water and set aside
• Peel and chop the onions

Cooking Procedure

• Put the peppers, onions, salt, seasoning powder and groundnut oil in the blender
• Crack open the eggs and our its contents into the blender
• Add 2½ cups of room temperature water
• Put the slides corned beef and add the beans flour
• Blend everything together until it is very smooth
• Pour the paste into a bowl
• Fold the cleaned moi moi leaves and pour the paste into the folded leaves

How to fold moi moi leaves is better explained in video for better understanding. You can Watch the video of how to fold moi moi leaves here

• Put all folded moi moi into a steaming rack
• Place the steaming rack over a pot of water and cover it
• Steam for 45- 50 minutes
• Delicious moi moi is ready to be enjoyed

 

Now that we are done with cooking, I will be explaining the reason why using shombo pepper is a most. The ingredient that give moi moi an attractive colour is shombo – cayenne pepper.

The absence of shombo would make the moi moi whitish unless you intend use artificial food colouring which is not advisable.

Also, the reason why this method is considered to be very easy and fast by doing a comparison with the steps in the traditional method used to make moi moi elewe.

1. Beans flour benefit : this has saved about 30 minutes of preparation time you would have used to soak and peel the beans skin before blending. If you have a low capacity blender, this method saves you about 6 hours because after peeling the beans you still have to soak it for at least 6 hours to soften the beans so that your blender will be able to blend it properly to achieve smooth consistency.
2. The Use of blender : using blender to mix all the ingredients to get a smooth paste is an ingenious method of saving yourself about 10 minutes of proper mixing using spatula or omorogun –as it is commonly called by the yorubas – to properly combine all the other ingredients with the beans paste after it has been blended smooth. Remember with this recipe, after blending the next step is to pour the paste into the leaves.

Thank you for taking your time to reading till the end. For video recipes please subscribe to my youtube channel.