New Year Black Eye Peas

I grew up in a household with my mom and grandma. My mom is half Chinese and half Japanese, and my grandmother was full Japanese born in Hawaii. My grandma did a lot of cooking around the house, and I was able to learn a lot from her, even as a kid. Much of my love for food was actually inspired by the amazing dishes my grandma would cook for us, as my mom was working long hours.

My grandma owned a Chinese restaurant, so she cooked quite a bit of Chinese or Japanese food for us, and it was all amazing! Well every New Year (the traditional calendar) we would eat Black Eye Peas. I was told this was for good luck! Funny thing is, as a kid you assume some things, and I assumed this was some Asian tradition and Black Eye Peas were Chinese or Japanese food. It turns out that I was wrong. This is a staple dish in the southern US, originally from West Africa, which is now eaten on the New Year for good luck.

I honestly don't typically enjoy these more than once a year, where I make a big pot, eat it for a few days, and then wait until the following year to take part in this family tradition that has been passed down. As many traditions are passed down and passed on, I will pass on my recipe so you can take part (and have something to use your Christmas ham bone for). Happy New Year!

Truffle Black Eye Peas

Tony Huey

Servings

6-8

Cook Time

55 minutes

Cuisine

American

Category

Dinner

As mentioned in my blog post I do Black Eye Peas every New Year as a family tradition for good luck. As the tradition goes, black eye peas eaten on the New Year give you good luck and prosperity, so what better way to up the stakes than by adding some truffle to it!


This recipe is pretty traditional in a sense and growing up we always used the ham bone from our Christmas dinner in the recipe, but you can always use ham hocks, add in ham, or some people even like to add bacon to this dish. For my purpose, I used a ham bone, with some ham still left on it, to provide the meat in this dish.

Truffle Black Eye Peas

Ingredients

  • 1 pound black eye peas, rinsed and soaked (see notes)

  • 1 quart chicken stock

  • 1 cup water

  • 1 ham bone or ham hock (2 can be used as well for a little extra meat)

  • 3 tbsp Truffletopia White Truffle Sauce

  • 1 cup onion, chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1 sprig fresh thyme

  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

  • ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add onions and cook for 2 minutes

  2. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute

  3. Add chicken stock, black eye peas, cold water, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and ham bone

  4. Cover and bring to a boil, stirring occassionally

  5. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes

  6. Uncover, and continue to cook until peas are tender and meat is falling off the bone with ease. Add pepper to taste, if needed.

  7. Enjoy!
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