Moin Moin (Nigerian Bean Pudding)

Moin moin, also called moimoi or moyin moyin, is a traditional West African (particularly Nigerian) dish based on black-eyed peas or other beans. It is usually conical or cylindrical in shape, depending on the type of mould used. Some use small baking tins as the mould, while others use light transparent nylon bags. Traditionally, however, the moin-moin is wrapped in leaves of the Yoruba soft cane (Thaumatococcus…
Ingredients
- About 2 milk tins of black-eyed peas, or other beans
- Water
- Bell peppers, diced
- Scotch bonnet Chile peppers, diced
- Onion, diced
- About 2–3 tbsp palm or vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
- Seasoning cubes to taste
- Hard-boiled eggs (optional), cut in quarters
- Dried or fresh fish (optional)
- Beef (optional), in chunks or minced
- Liver (optional)
Steps
Steamed
- Place beans in large container. Cover with water. Soak about 1 hour.
- Blend all peppers with onion into smooth paste.
- Prepare foil or empty cans as molds. Clean and lightly grease cans. For foil: tear off about 1 foot (30 cm). Fold in half. Roll two open edges over at least an inch so they hold the mixture. Result is rectangle with one open edge.
- Rub beans between hands to peel skin. Skin floats to top. Repeat until most skin is off.
- Grind beans into smooth, fine, mostly liquid paste.
- Add blended scotch bonnet peppers, bell peppers and onions, a few teaspoons oil, a little salt, and optional ingredients.
- Fill molds. Cans: pour in batter, leaving room to expand. Foil: pour in batter, roll last edge closed securely. Leaves: wrap into open cone, fold bottom to prevent leaking, fill half, roll and fold top. Lay folded portion flat on cooking surface lined with leaves.
- Bring water to boil in large pot, at least covering the bottom (less with leaves). Add filled molds.
- Steam at least 30 minutes until solid.
- Remove from cans or foil before serving.
- Serve with rice, meat, custard, pap or other sides.
Baking
- Grind peeled beans with pepper and onion into smooth paste.
- Add ground Maggi, salt and vegetable oil. Stir with wooden spoon until uniform.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
- Rub vegetable oil in muffin cups. Pour in moi moi mixture.
- Fold aluminum foil over cup sides to prevent drying.
- Pour water in oven tray. Place muffin cups in tray.
- Bake 45 minutes, replenishing water as needed.
- Cool. Remove from oven when done.
Notes from the original
- Some people recommend lightly grinding the beans before soaking them to make it easier to remove the skin.
- Some variants of this dish call for minimal or no removal of the beans' skins. The resulting moin moin is thicker than usual, and somewhat harder to digest.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Moin Moin (Nigerian Bean Pudding)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-10-16, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Moin Moin.jpg by Rka11111, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






