If you are reading this post, chances are that you just came back from reading my post about Abari. If Corn ‘Moin Moin’ is to Abari, Plantain ‘Moin Moin’ is to Epiti. The recipe is basically the same, this time you are working with Plantain and Corn, and by corn, fresh corn would be your best bet, but if you can’t source that because of the time of the year, replace with sweetcorn, frozen corn or mini corn on the cob. As I wrote with Abari, remember to thicken with corn flour, plain flour or corn meal.
If you have tried Abari, you definitely want to try Epiti. You can even do as I did and make both on the same day. Ooooooh, lush. I must warn though, over ripe plantain has quite a strong flavour, therefore add enough sweetcorn to match that flavour, otherwise all you would taste is the plantain. To half a plantain, I used two 165g of sweetcorn. You would think that the sweetness of both would be an overload, but it works, especially if you make it spicy. If your kids don’t like Moin Moin, they are guaranteed to love this.
You will need
Cans of Sweetcorn – or whatever your choice of corn i used 2 small cans of sweet corn (165g each)
Plantains – overripe. I used half a plantain
Tatashe – red bell pepper
Crayfish
Ata rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Salt
Seasoning cubes
Dry pepper – cayenne pepper or paprika
shredded smoked fish
Plain flour or corn flour – to thicken
Palm oil – you can substitute with vegetable oil or both
Banana leaves or heat proof containers
How To
1. Blend the overripe plantains with the corn to a smooth puree. You can also add the tatashe, and rodo, and blend at once. For this recipe I used half of a plantain and two 165g of sweetcorn
2. Mix in the ground crayfish and shredded smoked fish
3. Mix in the palm oil. Be careful with the volume of palm oil you add, so you can have the pale fine, orange colour that is so classic ‘moin moin’.
Mix in thoroughly, and then add the flour. Start with a tablespoon and work from there. For this recipe, I used 2 tablespoons of flour. Dooney’s Kitchen tip: you don’t want to go overboard with the flour, because you want it to steam and turn out with the squishy, mushy soft texture of moin moin. Too much flour and it will be dense like cake. You want it moist and moin moinyi (pardon my English). Lol
4. Pour into banana leaves, or oven proof dishes such as ramekins. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: remember to place the oven proof dishes in a deep oven tray and fill halfway with water to keep the oven moistened with steam. Let it bake in the oven at 180 degrees (350 in fahrenheit) for 15 minutes, max 20. Leave it in for too long and it becomes dense and dry.
Ta daaaaa……………….
Turn it over unto a plate
see, it does look like moin moin doesn’t it.
As with Ebiripo (recipe HERE), I enjoyed Epiti with a fried palm oil sauce on the side
Vivian says
March 29, 2014 at 12:28 pmThe Igbos call it ukpo ogede, though without the corn. Instead of corn or plain flour, it is usually mixed with unripe plantain flour. I bought half a box of plantains two days ago and I’ll be sure to try this version. As always, great job 🙂
dooneyrooney says
March 29, 2014 at 3:51 pmThank you Vivian. I also found out about the plantain flour version recently, and I will definitely be trying it. Thanks
Stella says
March 31, 2014 at 1:57 pmDear you didn’t state when the flour was added… I’m assuming with the oil?
dooneyrooney says
March 31, 2014 at 2:05 pmOh dear. Thanks for pointing that out. I have edited the post now. You add the flour, after you add the oil
Omolara says
March 31, 2014 at 3:25 pmThanks for the recipe,pls did u bake or boiled it ?
dooneyrooney says
March 31, 2014 at 8:08 pmI baked in an oven
Omolara says
April 1, 2014 at 12:16 pmThanks.
Viola Okolie says
April 1, 2014 at 12:45 pmIf you use banana leaves to wrap instead of pouring into ramekins, do you now steam stove top, or can you still bake in the oven?
dooneyrooney says
April 1, 2014 at 4:40 pmYes, you steam on a stove top
momsessionals says
April 1, 2014 at 5:51 pmI love your site, you are doing a very good job here. Keep it up. About to try this recipe out but with some tweaks, I will use smoked sausage, I don’t have fish and I will steam it in a pot like we do regular moi moi. I hope it comes out well.
dooneyrooney says
April 2, 2014 at 2:32 pmOh dear, smoked sausages. You just gave me a serious food-gasm. That would be incredible in Epiti. Like Rockstar incredible. I looooooove smoked sausages in Moin Moin. Epiti si traditionally steamed in a pot anyway, I just used the oven because of the food containers I was using
Victoria says
April 2, 2014 at 2:08 pmThis looks very interesting and will give iyt a go. impessive website
dooneyrooney says
April 2, 2014 at 2:26 pmThank you Victoria. Please try it out and let me know how it turns out. If you are not using fresh corn, don’t forget the flour
Manohi says
July 9, 2014 at 11:16 pmHi Dunni, great job as usual. For some reason, this recipe has been dancing in my head for weeks now: corn and plantain moinmoin. I felt like a rockstar when I found it was real!!lol
I was wondering if I can just use the tiny nylon packs for it as I’m yet to get the oven containers and don’t have any leaves… I’ve used them for moinmoin a few times and they come out well as long as I ‘pad’ the bottom of the pot very well…
Also, where can I get the oven containers from, please?
dooneyrooney says
July 10, 2014 at 12:55 pmHugs Manohi, you will enjoy making and eating it, yes you can use the packs. As long as it works for moin moin, it will work for this one too.
Manohi says
July 10, 2014 at 4:31 amDunni, I tried the epiti but it was all soft and wouldn’t form into a shape at all. Not sure which one pained me more: the fact that I’d saved my hunger for it, or my ingredients, time or that I made my yoruba mum-in-law eat eba tutu and my native black soup for dinner!
What did I do wrong please? Seriously have to redeem my image…….lol
dooneyrooney says
July 10, 2014 at 1:02 pmOh dear, soft and wouldn’t form. Did you use fresh corn, did you add a little flour to thicken it. Too soft epiti is usually due to the corn
Manohi says
July 10, 2014 at 1:19 pmI used sweet corn, the one in the can. I kept them in the fridge overnight and raced to go check this morning, but still soft (crying)… I added flour too…. Do you think there’s anyway I can make it work or just throw them out?
dooneyrooney says
July 10, 2014 at 1:21 pmDid you add a little flour?
Manohi says
July 11, 2014 at 7:24 amYes, I did…….
dooneyrooney says
July 11, 2014 at 11:38 amHmmmmmmn Manohi, if any steamed dish doesn’t set, the other culprit is water. If the corn and plantain batter is too watery, it won’t set. Can you please try it again and noticeably reduce the liquid content, let us see
Manohi says
July 14, 2014 at 7:31 pmThanks, Dunni. I’ll definitely try it again and let you know how it turns out.
dooneyrooney says
July 18, 2014 at 11:52 amOh please do. Don’t be discouraged
misty says
May 13, 2015 at 2:27 pmhi dooney dear, which container did you use to make the last presentation?. i need to make the epiti in that to surprise my dad please.
dooneyrooney says
May 27, 2015 at 11:29 amI used a large muffin mould
Ejay says
August 1, 2015 at 9:32 pmDunni, please could you clarify for me if you added water to this. I really wish I could see the consistency (hint, hint, short video). And did you cover the bowls in the oven, or were they left open. Thanks. My batch is already going in the oven so its too late, but maybe my next one will benefit from your answer.
Ps: You do an awesome job, and I love you to it. May God continue to expand your horizons!!
dooneyrooney says
August 17, 2015 at 10:12 pmno no no, water will only dilute it. puree in a food processor if possible.
Ejay says
August 1, 2015 at 9:34 pm* love you for it. Stupid autocorrect!
Louise Moses says
August 8, 2015 at 2:56 pmAmazing love it