Mayi moulen

Ingredients

The porridge

• 400 gfine cornmeal
• 1.5 litreswater
• or half water and half coconut milk
• 2 tablespoonsepis
• Haitian green seasoning
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 sprigthyme

The bean sauce

• 300 gred kidney beans
• or black beans, soaked overnight
• 1onion, chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 2cloves
• 1 sprigthyme
• 1scotch bonnet, whole and unpierced
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• fried or stewed fish
• pikliz
• avocado slices

Directions

1. Lift it out whole when the sauce is done. The porridge should be thick but not stiff. Put the beans in a large bowl of water. Cover them well and leave them overnight. Discard the soaking water afterwards. It causes severe sickness if they are undercooked. Drain the soaked beans and rinse them. Put them in a pot with fresh water. Bring them up to a hard rolling boil.
2. Boil them hard for ten full minutes. It must be a genuine rolling boil. Let them simmer until they are soft. Give them about one full hour. Squeeze a bean between your fingers. It should crush with no resistance at all. Cook them on if they still hold firm. Heat the oil in a separate pot. Add the chopped onion in to it.
3. Cook it for a good eight minutes. Add the crushed garlic in to it. Cook it for two more full minutes. Add the cooked beans with their liquid. Add the cloves and the thyme sprig. Add the whole scotch bonnet carefully. Season it with salt and black pepper. Simmering it takes about twenty minutes.
4. Let it simmer for about twenty minutes. Lift the whole scotch bonnet out carefully. Take out the thyme and the cloves as well. The sauce becomes inedibly hot if you do. Take it out before you blend anything. Blend the beans and liquid until smooth. Judging the sauce takes a look.
5. Add hot water if it is too thick. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the epis into the hot oil. Fry it for about two full minutes. Pour in the water or coconut milk.
6. Add the thyme sprig and the salt. Bring it up to a rolling boil. Pour the cornmeal in a very thin stream. Whisk it hard as you pour it in. A thin stream lets each grain wet separately. Take a full minute over the pouring. Some cooks mix the cornmeal with cold water first.
7. Let it cook for about thirty minutes. Stir it very regularly throughout. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Use a wooden spoon rather than a whisk now.
8. Add hot water if it goes too stiff. It should stay soft and spoonable. Taste a little of the cornmeal. It should be soft with no grittiness. Cook it until it is completely smooth. Thirty minutes is usually enough. Take out the whole thyme sprig. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Stir in a little more oil if you like. Serving it is always done hot.
9. Spoon the cornmeal onto plates. Make a hollow in the middle of each. Ladle the bean sauce into that hollow. Lay fried or stewed fish alongside. Put a bowl of pikliz on the table. Add sliced avocado to the plate. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Maize is low in some amino acids and beans supply exactly those it lacks, so the two together make a far better protein; the pairing runs across the Americas and is not a coincidence. Maize also holds its niacin in a bound form the body absorbs poorly unless the grain is treated with lime, and populations living almost only on maize historically risked pellagra — but this dish is never eaten alone, and the beans, fish and greens served with it supply what is missing.
• Raw kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, which causes severe sickness if they are undercooked: they must be boiled hard for ten full minutes, and low slow heat can make matters worse rather than better. Never cook dried kidney beans gently from raw and never in a slow cooker.
• The scotch bonnet goes into the sauce whole and unpierced so it perfumes without releasing its heat, and must be lifted out before blending — blending a whole chilli releases all of it and makes the sauce inedible.

Substitutions

• Black beans stand in for red kidney beans in the sauce.
• Half coconut milk in place of some of the water enriches the porridge.

Variations

• A sieve gives a smoother bean sauce than a blender and catches the skins, though it is slower.
• Some cooks mix the cornmeal to a paste with cold water first rather than pouring it dry into boiling liquid.
• It is served with a hollow in the middle for the sauce to pool in.

History

Cornmeal cooked to a porridge and served with beans and sauce, a staple that has fed Haitian households since the colonial era.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mayi moulen?

Mayi moulen is a main from Haiti: cornmeal porridge served with bean sauce and fish. Cornmeal cooked to a porridge and served with beans and sauce, a staple that has fed Haitian households since the colonial era.

How long does Mayi moulen take to make?

Mayi moulen takes 30 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mayi moulen?

Yes, within limits. Black beans stand in for red kidney beans in the sauce. Half coconut milk in place of some of the water enriches the porridge.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mayi moulen?

Boil them hard for ten full minutes. It must be a genuine rolling boil. Let them simmer until they are soft. Give them about one full hour. Squeeze a bean between your fingers. It should crush with no resistance at all. Cook them on if they still hold firm. Heat the oil in a separate pot. Add the chopped onion in to it.