Gbegiri
Ọbẹ̀ Gbẹ̀gìrì·(gbay-gee-ree)
The Soup Pot and the Swallow
Gbegiri isn’t some weekend-killing historical reenactment that demands you stand over a sink until your hands cramp, rubbing the skins off the beans by hand and whisking them over an open fire. You skip the miserable grind entirely by dumping a bag of pre-peeled black-eyed peas into a heavy pot, letting the boiling water do the heavy lifting, fortifying the base with unrefined red palm oil, wild crayfish, and pungent fermented locust beans, and trading the intense manual labor for a standard countertop blender and a pinch of baking soda. Hit puree, wait until the soup bubbles, and eat.
Ingredients
- Ewa Oloyin (Nigerian Honey Beans) or black-eyed peas1 1/2 cup
- baking soda1/4 tsp
- yellow or red onion1 med
- water5 cup
- unrefined red palm oil3 tbsp
- ground crayfish2 tbsp
- iru (fermented locust beans)1 tbsp
- ground dried cayenne pepper1 tsp
- Maggi or Knorr bouillon cube1 large
- saltto taste
Method
- 01
Soak the honey beans briefly to loosen their skins.
Place the dry honey beans in a bowl, cover with water, and let them soak for exactly 5 to 10 minutes. Do not exceed this, or the beans will turn to mush when you try to peel them.
- 02
Pulse the beans in a blender to mechanically remove the skins.
Drain the beans and transfer half to a standard blender, covering them with twice their volume in water. Pulse for one second, then release, repeating four to five times to knock the skins off without grinding the seeds. Pour into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining batch.
- 03
Rinse and separate the lightweight floating skins from the heavy seeds.
Fill the bowl containing the pulsed beans with plenty of water so the loosened skins float to the top. Gently decant the water and skins through a colander, adding fresh water and swirling until the beans are perfectly white and skinless. Absolute perfection matters here to ensure a silky texture.
- 04
Boil the peeled beans with baking soda until they entirely disintegrate.
Transfer the peeled beans to a medium pot with the chopped onion, baking soda, and 4 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 45 to 60 minutes, topping up with a little hot water if the pot runs dry.
- 05
Purée the cooked beans into a velvety, creamy liquid.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Transfer the mixture to a clean blender and process until totally smooth, then push the purée through a fine wire-mesh sieve back into the pot to catch any stray grit.
- 06
Emulsify the purée with palm oil and traditional seasonings.
Return the pot to low heat, whisking in a half cup of water if the paste is too thick. Stir in the red palm oil, ground crayfish, iru, cayenne pepper, bouillon cube, and a pinch of salt.
- 07
Simmer gently until the soup transforms into a vibrant golden-yellow.
Let the soup cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the thick purée from catching and burning at the bottom. As the palm oil emulsifies with the beans, the color will bloom beautifully; taste for seasoning, and remember it will thicken significantly as it cools.
Notes
Swap the traditional potash for baking soda.
Baking soda perfectly mimics the alkaline tenderizing and emulsifying properties of traditional kaun, slashing the cooking time without imparting any soapy flavor.
Serve with a traditional swallow to cut the richness.
Gbegiri is meant to be eaten by hand, ideally pooled on a wide plate with Ewedu and a spicy Buka Stew, then scooped up with a slightly bitter, starchy swallow like Amala.
From Cook Nigerian in America.