← Nouns Cooking · Caribbean

Ingredients

• 250 g dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 500 g stewing beef, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 300 g salted pig tails or salt beef, soaked overnight (optional)
• 1.5 l Water
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3 Spring onion, chopped
• 5 sprigs Thyme
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, left whole
• 8 whole allspice (pimento) berries
• 1 tsp Salt, or to taste
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 100 g plain flour, for the spinners

Method

1. Drain the soaked beans and put them in a large pot with the beef, the drained pig tails (if using) and the water. Bring to a hard boil for 10 min, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Add the coconut milk, onion, garlic, spring onion, thyme, whole scotch bonnet, allspice and pepper. Simmer, partly covered, for 1 hour more, stirring now and then, until the beans are very soft and the meat tender.
3. Meanwhile, mix the flour with a pinch of salt and 4–5 tbsp of water to make a firm dough. Pinch off small pieces and roll them between your palms into thin, finger-length spinners.
4. Drop the spinners into the pot and simmer for 15 min, until they float and are cooked through. Mash a few beans against the side of the pot to thicken the stew.
5. Taste and add salt (you will need less if you used salted meat). Remove the pepper and thyme stalks and serve over white rice.

Tips

• Boiling dried kidney beans hard for the first 10 minutes destroys a natural toxin; never cook them only on low heat.
• In a hurry, use two 400 g cans of kidney beans and cut the first simmer to 40 minutes.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

CaribbeanPot.com Taste the Islands Jamaicans.com