Jamaican Stew Peas
Jamaican Stew Peas are red kidney beans, salted pork, and rich coconut milk, simmered to tender perfection. Complete this hearty comfort dish with soft, hand-rolled dumplings known as spinners.
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- Stock Pot
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
Soaking Red Kidney Beans
- 2 cups Dried Red Kidney Beans rinsed
- 3 cups Water
- 2 stalks Escallion crushed
- 3 sprigs Thyme
- 3 cloves Garlic crushed
- 1 whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 6 whole Pimento Seeds allspice berries
Jamaican Stew Peas
- 1lb Salted Beef cured bone-In beef, cut into chunks, optional
- 1lb Salted Pigtail cut into smaller pieces, optional
- 3 cups Water more or less as needed
- 1 cup Coconut Milk full-fat
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Spinners
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt +/- a tbsp or so
- 1/2 cup Water
Instructions
Soak Red Kidney Beans (Optional)
- Rinse beans and place in a medium sized bowl. Add fresh water, escallion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, pimento seeds and thyme. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to soak overnight.
Prepare Cured/Salted Beef
- Add water to a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Then add salted beef, salted pigtail and boil for about 20 minutes to remove salt then discard water and set aside. Repeat as many times as needed until desired amount of salt has been been boiled out.
Jamaican Stew Peas
- In a large pot, pour in bean mixture (including the water, which is now infused with flavour), salted beef and pigtail if using. Add an additional 2 cups of water and allow to boil over moderately high heat for about 45 minutes or until the beef and beans are near tender, stirring occasionally.
- Ensure there is enough water to cover the beans and meat at all times until softened – you may need to add an additional 1-2 cups of water at the halfway point.
- When beans tender, stir in coconut milk, season with black pepper, and allow to boil for about 5 minutes. Add spinners, and reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer. If the stew does not thicken after adding your dumpling, add a cornstarch slurry to the stew to make it thicker, stirring as your pour it into the pot. When stew has reduced and sauce thickened, remove from heat, serve and enjoy!
Spinners
- In a medium mixing bowl, add flour and salt then gradually add water and use your hand to knead and form the dough for the spinners. Dough should be soft but not sticky and wet.
- Pinch or cut off 6 to 8 equal sized pieces. Use the palms of your hands to make long thin dumpling style spinners. Set each spinner aside.
Notes
Soaking the Beans - this step is optional, but recommended to cut down on the length of time it takes for the beans to soften.
Red Kidney Beans - the boiling process to cook the beans will take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour depending on how long you've soaked your beans. Just ensure there is enough water in the pot to cover the beans at all times.
See Recipe Notes and Tips for Success Section in Blog Post for More!