Moi Moi

Moi moi is the steamed bean pudding that anchors every Nigerian celebration, from weddings to Christmas mornings. Black-eyed peas are peeled, blended silky-smooth, and steamed in parcels of banana leaf or foil until they set into a firm, custardy pudding. It is served alongside jollof rice and fried plantain, or sliced on its own, and it is the dish people request by name when they are coming to dinner.

Custardy, savory, and sliceable

The texture is the whole point: smooth and dense, almost like a savory flan, with a slice of hard-boiled egg and flakes of smoked fish hidden in the center like a treasure. Crayfish and bouillon give it a deep, briny savor that works at breakfast, lunch, or party time. Unwrapping a warm parcel of moi moi is one of the great small pleasures of Nigerian cooking — the parcel opens to release a puff of steam and the aroma of beans and palm oil.

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