Moi Moi — Steamed Bean Pudding with Eggs

Ingredients

• 1½ cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked 4 hours and skins rubbed off
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded
• ½ onion
• 1 habanero, seeds out for mercy
• 3 tbsp red palm oil or neutral oil
• 2 Eggs, hard-cooked and sliced (or 4 oz flaked)
• 1 tsp ground crayfish, optional
• 1 bouillon cube, crushed
• ¾ cup warm water or stock
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Blend the peeled beans with the bell pepper, onion, habanero, and just enough warm water to move the blades. Stop when the batter is smooth and thick as pancake batter — too much water and it will never set.
2. Beat in the oil, crayfish, bouillon, and salt. The color should shift to a warm coral. Taste a dab off your finger; it should be assertively seasoned, since steaming mutes everything.
3. Divide between two greased heatproof bowls or wide ramekins, tucking the sliced Eggs into the middle of each so it ends up suspended in the custard.
4. Cover each tightly with foil and steam over simmering water 40–45 minutes, topping up the water as needed. It is done when a knife comes out clean and the top springs back.
5. Rest 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn out. Eat warm with bread, or cold from the fridge the next day, which is how most people actually eat it.