COPPERHoppin' john recipe
The standard Bermudian side of black-eyed peas and rice, built on bacon fat and tomato paste and scented with whole sprigs of thyme.
Ingredients
- 250 g black eyed peas
- 300 g long grain rice
- 150 g bacon
- 1 onion
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 3 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 800 ml chicken stock
- 30 g butter
- 1 tsp black pepper
How to make Hoppin' john
- Soak 250 g of black eyed peas overnight, then simmer them 40 minutes with a sprig of thyme until tender but still whole.
- Cut 150 g of bacon into lardons and render them dry in a heavy pot until the fat runs.
- Add 30 g of butter, 1 chopped onion and 3 crushed garlic cloves, and sweat 5 minutes.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and let it darken for 2 minutes, which gives the dish its colour.
- Add 300 g of long grain rice and coat every grain in the red fat.
- Tip in the drained peas, 800 ml of chicken stock, the rest of the thyme and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Cover and cook 20 minutes on low without stirring, then rest 10 minutes off the heat.
- Fluff with a fork, pull out the thyme stalks and serve alongside fried fish or grilled chicken.
What is Hoppin' john?
Hoppin' john is a traditional dish from Bermuda, simmered in one pot, and takes about 13 hours and 30 minutes from start to finish. It is built around chicken stock, long grain rice and black eyed peas. The recipe below uses 10 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Hoppin' john take?
At 810 minutes it is slower than 85% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 5 dishes built on chicken stock. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 40 minutes.
Any tips for making Hoppin' john?
Let the tomato paste darken in the bacon fat before coating the rice in it, then cook covered without stirring and rest off the heat.
How Hoppin' john compares
Black eyed peas appears in no other dish in the atlas.
Copper documents Bermuda alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.