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Rice n Peas

October 9, 2012 6 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

I’m all about sistas doing it for themselves. My upstairs neighbour Karen, also a single mum, who comes from a Jamaican background, has started a sideline in selling proper Jamaican food to other mums outside the school gate. Parents are flocking to buy tubs of her rice n peas, callalloo (a Caribbean spinach) and Jerk chicken. I can’t blame them, it’s delicious, healthy and whilst a seemingly simple dish, it’s time consuming to make properly. Contact Karen for Caribbean catering here at her facebook group MsRicenPeas.
The future lies in kitchen table entrepreneurs!
Rice and peas is the mainstay food of Jamaican cuisine. Peas is beans: the further south, the darker the legume. Caribbean islands near to the southern states of America, will often use the black eyed pea as I have. Jamaicans use the pinto bean. Islands closer to South America will use the small black turtle bean.
Caribbean and food from the South in the US, is hugely influenced by African food, foodways brought by the slave trade who tried to reproduce their home food using local ingredients. Most African countries have a stew and a starch as a main dish. 
Karen kindly gave me her recipe. A few pointers:

  • One of the things that surprised me was that she soaked the peas with garlic and onion “to soften them”. Softening those peas is important.
  • Pimento is ‘All Spice’. I’d love to get hold of the leaves, they taste like bay leaves.
  • Scotch Bonnets: make sure you get the real thing, not habaneros. Genuine Scotch Bonnets have a fruity flavour, not just heat. If you are really hard-core you can put the entire Scotch Bonnet in your beans when cooking but you risk it bursting, spilling the seeds and making the dish too hot.
  • My tweak: I had some fresh coconut so I cooked my peas with a few large slices. It lent a rich depth to the flavour. And the fresh coconut tasted amazing just eaten by the slice.
Rice and Peas
Rinse beans
1 cup beans = 2 (or 3) cups of basmati rice depending on your
taste.
Soak Beans in filtered water or cooled water from the
kettle, overnight if possible add a tiny piece of garlic ½ ways through (yes I
have woken up in the middle of the night to put garlic in my beans)
Chop:
1
clove of garlic
2 spring onions
½ onion
½ red bell pepper
2 slices scotch bonnet pepper no seeds
Pimento seeds (4 minimum) 
Optional 1 carrot
2 small slices of fresh ginger
Put garlic, onion and pimento seeds on to boil using
water from the kettle, cover beans and then some.
Simmer for one hour.
Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer till
cooked. Don’t let beans cook too soft, they should smell sweet and creamy.
Melt coconut cream in hot water (just to dissolve the
block) for 2 cups of rice I would use ¼ of a packet (200g size) of coconut
cream. You can add more or less if you prefer, it’s a matter of personal taste.
I find too much coconut cream makes the rice greasy. Add thyme about 2 – 3
stalks or a tablespoon of dried. I put at least one table spoon of soy sauce in
at this stage. You can add any seasoning you like i.e. Season All,  Reggae Reggae
sauce etc.
Simmer the peas on low and wash your rice. Season
well.
Once your rice is free of starch add it to the peas
and stir with a fork. Taste liquid. Usual rules for cooking rice apply; you may
need ½ cup more liquid than normal. I use the knuckle test and stick my finger
in but otherwise its 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. I add a generous knob of
butter and check seasoning. Cook rice on stove or in oven on a low heat, till
its cooked. Check the water and don’t stir with a spoon.
Alternatively if not cooking rice till next day,
drain peas and reserve liquid. Mix peas into rice and stir (heated) liquid back
in.
Rice should be soft and fluffy. Serve with anything!
Enjoy.
Ms Rice and Peas x

Caribbean supper club hosts Tan Rosie have brought out a cookbook so if you want to know about Grenada and Carriacou cuisine buy it here. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous

    October 9, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Good Food from Good People.

    Reply
  2. kensalgreens

    October 10, 2012 at 7:51 am

    that looks yummy … and something warming as the weather starts to get cold. Great stuff.
    One question though, what is the knuckle test?

    Reply
  3. KazzyC

    October 10, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    the knuckle test, I put my finger in the pot, on top of rice, water should reach the first joint of your finger. then you know you have the right ration of rice to water.
    Karen x

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    December 27, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Sounds good. Mind you, having tasted your rice and peas (although it's been a while), I can testify to how good they are.

    Nicolettew

    Reply
  5. Kerstin Rodgers

    October 14, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    I'm yearning for some of these!

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    February 17, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    … Sounds like great comfort food!
    I'll be making this tomorrow – thanks for the recipe.
    Emma 🙂

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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