The Lee Brothers' Hoppin’ John
Updated Oct. 23, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup dried black-eyed peas or field peas
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1smoked hog jowl, or ¼ pound (3 strips) thick-cut smoked bacon
- 1medium onion, coarsely chopped
- ½teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1teaspoon salt
- 5 or 6peeled whole tomatoes, or half a 28-ounce can, drained (optional)
- 1½cups uncooked rice
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
381 calories; 9 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams dietary fiber; 20 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 1264 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Wash the peas in a strainer, and soak them for 4 hours in ample fresh water. When ready, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a 4-quart pot, and brown the hog jowl on both sides. (If using bacon, omit the olive oil, and simply render the fat in the pot for 5 minutes.) Add onion, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add 6 cups water, black pepper, red pepper and salt, and bring to a boil.
- Step 2
Let mixture boil 10 minutes, and then add peas. Maintain a low boil, uncovered, until peas are nearly tender (25 minutes for black-eyed peas, 30 minutes for field peas). In a bowl, lightly crush tomatoes, and add to pot. Add rice to pot, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Turn off flame, and allow hoppin' John to steam in pot, lid on, for 5 minutes. If using hog jowl, remove from pot, and shred meat. Fluff hoppin' John, and add shredded jowl. Serve.
Private Notes
Comments
This is a reliable New Year's Day, good luck and prosperity beans, pork and rice dish. I add red pepper flakes and a few dashes of Tobasco to add a bit of heat and to pump up the flavor.
We prefer more beans, so I invert the proportions of beans to rice.
Don't forget to add a quarter to the dish. Whoever finds it is granted extra special good luck for the coming New Year!
Made this for New Years tomorrow and per the reviews I read here before making it did some additions. If you are looking for a guaranteed boost to this recipe, keep reading. I added 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 1 stalk of chopped celery to the sautéed onion. Then deglazed the pan for that delicious frond with a couple of splashes of white wine. For the stock, added 1.5 teaspoons of veggie base better than bullion (decrease the salt to 1/2 tsp), 2 bay leaves and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.
Really liked it. Added carrots and celery. Made it with bacon. Going to try adding some sausage next time.
Delicious. Creamy and flavorful.
This was a big hit with our friends. I only used the bacon and I used 4 whole peeled canned tomatoes crushed by hand. Another recipe on NYT called for chopped garlic, so I added that, too. Finally, the local food store had rehydrated black eyed peas, so I used those and cut down the cooking time since that package indicated to cook for just 20 minutes. Basically, I was able to add the peas and the rice at the same time.
Overall, a solid recipe. I’m especially glad it calls for cooking the dish accretively, by adding ingredients to a constantly boiling pot, which ensure peak flavor penetration. As I have access to fresh pinkeye peas, I use those instead of blackeyed, and I double or triple the amount so the peas don’t get lost. Much more should be said, though, on the use of hot jowl, because the difference between cured and I cured is significant, and if you work with uncured, it vastly increases cook time.