Just the recipe, please. Spill ingredients on this.

A green bowl of black-eyed peas in a ruddy-colored orange and coconut sauce flavored with ginger and five-spice powder. The peas are garnished with thin slices of lime. The bowl rests on a orange, yellow, and green napkin printed with daisies and an orange tablecloth. A wooden serving spoon is to the right of the bowl.

For New Year’s feasting and good fortune, I wanted to write a black-eyed pea recipe that would carry the bright winter sunshine flavor of citrus, rely mostly on long-lived pantry and fridge staples, and not fall back on the crutch of tomatoes for acid and sweetness. In this naturally sweetened, no-refined-sugar black-eyed pea stew, a surfeit of caramelized onions deliver depth, orange juice concentrate brings a flavor intensity that freshly-squeezed orange juice can’t, and five-spice powder harmonizes with the sweet and hot flavors of dates, ginger, and serrano chiles.

A green bowl of black-eyed peas in a ruddy orange and coconut sauce flavored with ginger and five-spice powder. The peas are garnished with thin slices of lime. The bowl rests on a orange, yellow, and green napkin printed with daisies and an orange tablecloth. A wooden serving spoon is to the right of the bowl.

Print Recipe

Orange Ginger Coconut Black-Eyed Peas with Five-Spice

A rich and earthy black-eyed pea stew, spiced and naturally sweet with orange, coconut, and dates.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 30

Soaking Time8

Total Time10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Fusion

Keyword: beans, stew, vegan, vegetarian, winter

Servings: servings

Calories: 485kcal

Equipment

pressure cooker
blender

Ingredients

For the Black-Eyed Peas

450 g black-eyed peas dry
water to soak
6 g salt

For the Stew

41 g coconut oil
720 g onion sliced pole-to-pole
32 g garlic peeled
35 g ginger in chunks, peeled
33 g serrano peppers
200 g medjool dates
175 g orange juice concentrate
403 g coconut milk
4 g cayenne or paprika, if you prefer less heat
five-spice powder
6 g salt
16 g lime juice
pepper freshly ground, to taste

Instructions

Sort through the black-eyed peas for broken, shriveled, or discolored peas. Rinse in a sieve under running water, and turn into a large bowl. Cover with cold water. Allow to soak for eight hours. Rinse and drain.
Alternatively, place the sorted and cleaned black-eyed peas in a large saucepan and add the water and salt. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and allow to soak for one hour. Rinse and drain.
Now, we have to caramelize those onions. I’m sorry; I know it’s a pain, but it’s how we get the deep, rich flavor in this dish. If you prep the onions first and start them going while you do the rest, pausing to stir them between tasks, they’ll be ready about when the rest of the prep is done. We'll caramelize them in the pressure cooker we'll later use for the peas in order to minimize the amount of dishes we dirty.
So: In a 6-quart pressure cooker, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. When shimmering, add the onions and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir every few minutes. First they’ll lose volume, and then they’ll slowly begin to brown. Reduce the heat as they do to keep them from burning, and cook until they’re a nice medium brown. This will take at least 45 minutes. If they begin to stick, reduce the heat a little and spread the onions over the spots where they’re sticking. After a few minutes, scrape to release the fond.
While the onions are cooking, heat the orange juice concentrate and dates to boiling in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Set aside so the dates can rehydrate for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on their moisture level and the robustness of your blender.
Once the onions reach a thoroughly caramelized deep brown, scrape them into the blender. Return the pressure cooker to the heat and add the garlic, ginger, and serrano peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until the garlic, ginger, and serrano peppers have picked up a little bit of browning. Add the garlic, ginger, and serrano peppers to the blender.
Now add the orange juice concentrate mixture, cayenne or paprika, five-spice powder, and salt into the blender and blend until thoroughly puréed. Add the coconut milk and blend again to combine. Set aside.
Place the drained black-eyed peas in the now-empty pressure cooker and add water to cover them and 6 g salt. Secure the lid and bring to pressure. Cook under pressure for eight minutes or your cooker's recommended time for black-eyed peas. Perform a quick release.
Reserving the liquid, drain the black-eyed peas and return them to the pressure cooker. Measure the reserved liquid and add water to bring it up to three cups, if necessary. Add the liquid to the pressure cooker. Add the contents of the blender to the pressure cooker and stir to combine.
Because the liquid the black-eyed peas are now in is high in natural sugars, it will scorch easily. So bring it to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally and checking the bottom for scorching by scraping it.
Simmer the peas in the liquid for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and add the lime juice and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Taste for salt and add more if necessary.

Nutrition