I was joking to a friend recently that a lot of our local Nigerian delicacies are so good, we have to name them twice. You’ve probably come across some on this page - chin-chin, puff-puff, moi-moi or moin-moin…. Etc. Believe it or not, I went down an entire rabbit hole which I won’t bore you with trying to find out if that “n” belongs in the name of this dish. I grew up knowing it as moi-moi but now I see moin-moin everywhere and you know what? Both spellings make sense! So yeah, we’re using both here. Inclusiveness and what have you.

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you who, like me, grew up in Nigeria, but this recipe used to give me serious nightmares. I’m honestly still dealing with beans-peeling PTSD even after I’ve mastered the art of peeling beans using a blender (omg!!!) So somehow, even if I know it’s a 10 minute process (literally), I find that I have to do an entire mental exercise when my constituents in this house ask for akara or moi-moi. Eventually I’ll heal. And as far as I’m concerned the only way past is through. Therefore, lots of easy peasy beans peeling in my immediate future!

I love beans - black eyed beans! So any bean-based dish is already a favourite for me. I would usually have my moi-moi with a bowl of cold water (and ice)- soaked garri and a bit of sugar; while my husband prefers to have his with hot soft agege-ish bread. The boys are happy to eat it solo or with some bread. Obviously you can see who the boarding-house-scarred, local champ is in this house! Anyway, we move. Here’s the recipe!

Do you have questions about the beans peeling method? Ask in the comments. I want to check something 😉

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

yield: 8 portions

Ingredients:

3 cups peeled beans, washed and drained
2 large red bell peppers, deseeded and quartered
1 scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded (for a less spicy flavour) and quartered
1 large onion, quartered
¼ cup crayfish/ dried prawns
5 large eggs (1 raw and 4 hard boiled )
3 tablespoons cornflour or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 stock cubes
1 can corned beef or 2 filets of smoked mackerel

Instructions:

To a blender, add all the ingredients except the boiled eggs and corned beef/ mackerel, and blend until smooth. Look out for the crayfish particles, making sure they are as tiny as possible.
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper
Spread the mix from the blender on to the tray ensuring it is evenly flattened on the surface, with a thickness of about half an inch
Slice hard boiled eggs and cut meat in pieces. Then spread as toppings across the top of the moimoi mix on the baking tray
Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Be careful not to over bake as it can quickly become dry
You may choose to cut in pieces and serve immediately or you could roll-up the moimoi immediately it comes out of the oven. To roll up, flip one of the shorter ends of the parchment paper over and slowly roll to the other end. Then peel off parchment paper to slice and serve.
Serve warm with pap/akamu/ogi, oats, garri or freshly baked bread.
Enjoy!

Do you have questions about the beans peeling method? Ask in the comments. I want to check something 😉

Did you try this recipe? Let us know in the comments or continue the conversation on Instagram, using the hashtag #goodlivingwithmae