Moinmoin and Akara
Bunmi Fatoye-Matory
Beautiful chefs on Naijanet,
I have pondered over a mystery since becoming a member of the diaspora,
and that is how to cook moinmoin without unraveling. Given the fact that
we are leaf-challenged in this part of the world, and have to make do
with an inferior substitute, aluminium foil (talk about adaptation), I
have not been able to produce a "wholesome moinmoin". And I
miss the gelatinous part (ibi pelebe) which we often start with when we
eat moinmoin from leaves. I miss that special flavor from the leaves too,
but I guess we can't do anything about that right now. So how can I cook
moinmoin without it unraveling in the foil? And remember the one with
seven lives (elemi meje), what ingredients will you recommend to
constitute the seven lives?
Also, how can I fry akara to obtain the light and dry inside that we
should normally get. I think something must wrong when you akara is flat
and sleeps in the oil, soaking up all the oil in the fry-pan. Any
thoughts on these important matters? Thank you.
Bunmi
Ade Talabi
Aunti Bunmi,
Me i no no say chefs dey dey beautiful o. weder becos all di chefs wey
man don met before, na wen hunga don deal wit man. dat taim sef, me i no
dey see road o, not to tuk of chef.
aniway sha.
For di Akara [make six pipul waka di one]
-----------------
1 large tin of beans
1 dessert spoonful of pepper
0.5 large onion
1.5 small tins of oil
1 large tin of water
salt to taste [biko no put maggi like egusi soup o]
1. Soak the beans for 5 minutes. biko remove the skins o.
2. Grind and put in a bowl[no be pot o]. Beat well, adding the water a
little at a time until the mixture is very light.
3. Then add ground pepper and cut onion.
4. Mix well and fry in fried palm oil or ororo.
5. When cooked, remove and serve.
6. If preferred, the pepper can be fried separately in oil to form a
source.
You asked why is it going flat? Combination of 2 and 4, is where the
secrets lie.
for di moi-moi, make i see wetin di oder beutiful pipul go tuk.
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/
Odu'a
http://www.ftech.net/~nigerian
Teach children to be polite and courteous in the home, and, when he
grows up, he will never be able to edge his car onto a freeway.
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Odum Sunny K
Hello Bunmi,
I dislike too the mess with foil and moimoi. You could use readymade
foil containers for muffins or pie. Better still you could save your
tin tomato (or any other food can) cans, but you may have to use
smooth cutting tin-cutters. Remember to oil the cans (magarine may
also do) before filling with raw moimoi, so as to get the ready
moimoi out of the cans smoothly.
For Akara, always remeber to deepfry them. Possibly in cooking pots,
and not frypans.
Adieu,
Sunny Odum.
Bamidele Olufunmilayo Ademola-olateju
Dear Bunmi,
Peace, for the moinmoin, rub veg. oil on aluminum foils before putting the
paste. Use 2 aluminum foil not entirely superimposed on each other and
wrap it in the leaf fashion. When I do it this way it comes out neat
without unraveling and I get the "ibi pelebe" too. I use corned beef( do
not mix in just add in tiny clumps), liver chops, eggs and boiled fresh
shrimps to give it the seven lives. If I want to keep some in the fridge for
up to a week I substitute fish for eggs as the egg white tends to harden.
Do not forget atarodo and a little tatase for distinctive flavor and color.
As for akara, if you want the dry feel and to achieve floatation in oil, the
secret is to blend in two eggs for every serving for 4 people. Put
washed beans, onion, rodo in the blender, break in two eggs and blend
until smooth. Most of the time the egg white serve as my water because I
allow the beans to soak before blending. You may add a little water to
achieve the consistency you want. Egg is the magic, I have used this
method since my rebellion forced my grandmother to let me off the
grinding stone years back. Try it out.
Bamidele.
====================================================
"which one of the favors of your Lord will you deny?"
====================================================
Tunde M. Giwa
Hello guys. This is interesting.
On the moin-moin, you can cook it in a
pie dish lined with banana leaves available in the
frozen compartment of any reasonably sized Hispanic
Store in the USA. Cook it in a 375 degree oven with a
large pyrex-type container of water placed at the bottom
of the oven. This method works very well. Check it out.
On the akara, check two things which could be causing
them to be oil-soaked, 1. They were not sufficiently
mixed, (well aerated) You *must* mix very well till
you get a light mixture. 2. The oil should be sufficiently
hot otherwise, your akara will 'drink' the oil.
Cheers.
Tunde giwa
----------
From: Odum Sunny K
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 1997 11:18 AM
To: NAIJA...@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
Subject: Re: Moinmoin and Akara