Muffin-Tin Moin Moin
(moyn-moyn)
The Sunday Rice Tradition
In the old days, making this cornerstone of the Nigerian Sunday table meant hours painstakingly rubbing soaked beans between your palms just to remove the skins. It was a labor of love, but hardly practical for a Tuesday night after a long shift. Modern Nigerian-American aunties have figured out a better way. By quick-soaking honey beans and pulsing them in a standard blender, the skins slip right off. Baked in a muffin tin inside a makeshift water bath instead of hand-folded banana leaves, the result is a beautifully aerated, savory bean pudding loaded with the deep, unapologetic umami of ground crayfish and Scotch bonnet heat. It is exactly the taste of home, minus the all-day hustle.
Ingredients
- dried honey beans (Ewa Oloyin)1 1/2 cup
- red bell pepper1 large
- Scotch bonnet peppers2 med
- red onion1 large
- warm chicken stock1 cup
- vegetable oil1/3 cup
- red palm oil2 tbsp
- ground dried crayfish2 tbsp
- Maggi or Knorr seasoning cubes2 med
- egg1 large
- kosher salt1 tsp
- freshly grated nutmeg1/2 tsp
- hard-boiled eggs3 large
- smoked mackerel or sardines1 cup
Method
- 01
Quick-soak the beans.
Place the dried honey beans in a large bowl and cover with warm tap water for exactly 5 to 10 minutes. Do not leave them longer, or they will soften too much and turn to mush in the blender.
- 02
Pulse the beans to remove their skins.
Drain the beans and transfer half to a blender with just enough water to cover them. Pulse 4 to 5 times in short bursts to detach the skins, then pour into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining beans.
- 03
Float the skins away.
Fill the bowl of pulsed beans with plenty of water so the loose, lighter skins float to the top. Gently swirl and decant the floating skins into a sieve, repeating 4 or 5 times until you have beautifully clean, skinless white beans.
- 04
Puree the flavor matrix.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rinse the blender, then add the peeled beans, red bell pepper, Scotch bonnets, red onion, and warm stock. Blend on high until exceptionally smooth and velvety, like a pale orange pancake batter.
- 05
Vigorously whisk the batter to aerate.
Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl and add the vegetable oil, palm oil, crayfish, seasoning cubes, salt, nutmeg, and the raw egg. Beat with a whisk or hand mixer for 5 solid minutes. This incorporates air and emulsifies the fats, guaranteeing a light, bouncy texture rather than a dense brick.
- 06
Portion the pudding.
Lightly grease a 12-cup metal muffin tin and ladle the aerated batter into each cup, filling about three-quarters full. Drop one piece of flaked smoked fish and one slice of hard-boiled egg into the center of each cup.
- 07
Bake in a sealed water bath.
Tightly cover the muffin tin with aluminum foil to trap the steam. Place the tin inside a larger roasting pan on the middle oven rack, and pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the tin. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.
- 08
Rest before unmolding.
Remove the foil and let the tin sit for 10 minutes so the delicate protein gel sets. Run a knife around each cup to pop out perfectly portioned savory cakes, ready to serve alongside Jollof rice or fried plantains.
Notes
The water bath is non-negotiable.
The dry heat of an American oven will quickly scorch and dry out the Moin Moin before it cooks. If you don't have a roasting pan large enough for a water bath, place a tray of boiling water on the oven rack directly beneath the muffin tin.
Sourcing honey beans.
Ewa Oloyin (honey beans) provide the subtle natural sweetness that perfectly balances the intense Scotch bonnet heat. If you absolutely cannot find them at an international market, standard black-eyed peas will work.
From Cook Nigerian in America.