Lesley Enston's Jamaican stew peas
The name for this dish might be confusing as these are kidney beans, despite being called peas in Jamaica. My half-Jamaican cousin once walked into a Trinidadian restaurant and ordered stew peas. The woman behind the counter stared at her and responded, “You mean stew beans?” Kidney beans are one of the most preferred beans across the islands. There could be several reasons for this. They cook relatively quickly without soaking and that ability to break down easily also leads to less gas (bonus!). They add their sugars to the cooking liquid, which makes it thick and tasty. On the flip side, they are one of the least nutritious of the commonly used legumes and are relatively difficult to grow. Flavor wins, I suppose.
This dish often includes meat such as salt beef, salt pork, pig tail, or other offal. And yes, that is delicious. But I grew up eating so little meat, I find a great deal of comfort and joy in just the beans and the decadent creaminess of the coconut milk, which is just how my Jamaican auntie Rosie Mae made it. This is a dish that really gives you a look into someone’s kitchen, and you’ll find it simmering on Jamaican stoves from Kingston, Jamaica, to Flatbush, Brooklyn. The spinners, flour dumplings given the name because they spin and sink as they cook, are optional (unless you’re Jamaican), but they do help thicken the stew. This dish freezes beautifully and is an exciting thing to find when you’re desperately searching the freezer for a meal.
Serves 6-8
Note from Primary Beans: While the recipe calls for dried kidney beans or other red beans, we recommend using our kidney-shaped Speckled Bayo or earthy Chaparro, each giving the dish a delightful twist.
Ingredients
Beans- 1 pound dried kidney beans or other red beans
- 6 cups water
- 1 (13.5- ounce) can coconut milk, or 2 cups homemade Coconut Milk (recipe in the book, page 97)
- 6 garlic cloves: 3 smashed and peeled, 3 minced
- 1 teaspoon allspice berries, crushed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 5 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
Spinners (optional)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ to ½ cup water
White rice, for serving
Steps
Make the beans: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine the beans, water, coconut milk, smashed garlic cloves, and the allspice berries and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, undisturbed, for 1 to 1½ hours, until the beans are nearly tender.
Add the minced garlic, the onion, scallions, thyme, Scotch bonnet, and salt. Stir to combine, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes more, until the stew begins to thicken.
Meanwhile, make the spinners, if desired: In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until a stiff dough forms. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Pinch off a scant tablespoon of dough and roll it
between your hands, creating a cigar shape. Place the spinner on a plate, and
repeat with the remaining dough.
Add the spinners to the pot with the beans and gently push them under the surface of the liquid. Cover the pot and cook for an additional 15 minutes to steam the spinners; cut one open to make sure it’s cooked through if you aren’t sure. Remove the pot from the heat.
Taste for salt (beans can handle a lot of seasoning, so you may want to add up to a full teaspoon more). Serve alone or over rice. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Reprinted with permission from Belly Full: Exploring Caribbean Cuisine Through 11
Fundamental Ingredients and Over 100 Recipes by Lesley Enston © 2024.
Photographs copyright © 2024 by Marc Baptiste. Cover illustration copyright © 2024 by Nicholas Huggins. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
