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RECIPE
Haitian

Diri Djon Djon

“Haitian Black Rice”

Prep 15-20 mins

Ready in 40 minutes

Serves 8 people

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup of frozen lima beans
• Two ¾ oz bags of dried djon djon mushrooms OR Maggie Djon Djon bouillon cubes. NOTE: (You need either the real dried djon djon mushrooms OR the Maggie djon djon bouillon cubes, not both). The Maggie cubes are cheaper on Amazon than the dried mushrooms. 
• 4 whole cloves spice
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic
• 1 bunch of Fresh thyme
• 1 bunch of Fresh parsley 
• 1 bunch of Green Onion/ Scallions
• 2 cups of white jasmine rice
• Seasoning: Maggie Sazon Completo
• A bag of raw shrimp any size (optional)
• Salt (optional)
• Note: The Haitian epis will be made from fresh garlic, scallions, thyme, and parsley in a blender or food processor or mortar & pestle.

Preparation 

OVERNIGHT: 1. In a pot: Add 2 cups of water to the dried djon djon. Cover and let sit overnight. 

PLEASE HAVE STEP 1 &  2 READY at least 5 minutes BEFORE the LIVE EVENT.

1. In one pot: Add the frozen lima beans after removing them from the package to a pot of 2 cups of boiling water. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Just add to the boiled water and turn them off. We don’t want to overcook them as they will be too mushy. We will cook them again with the rice later. Set aside.
2. Then about 15 minutes before the LIVE EVENT, take the pot with the djon djon mushrooms and put it on the stove and boil and let it boil for about 10 minutes. This will make a mushroom stock. DO NOT THROW OUT THE WATER. We want the color of the mushroom water to help create the black color of the rice.  Set aside until Fabiola begins. 

LIVE EVENT STARTS HERE

            (follow along with Fabiola now)

1. Follow along to make the Haitian Epis by using parsley, garlic, thyme and green onion/ scallions.
2.  Remove the mushrooms from water by straining it out and set them aside. PLEASE KEEP THE MUSHROOM WATER/ STOCK.  Repeat –  KEEP THE WATER. 
3. Heat a large pot on medium-high heat, add oil of your choice, and Haitian Epis to the pan until it is brown. Then add the Shrimp (add seasonings).  Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the lima beans.
4. Add coconut milk to the pan, mix and stir. Let it reduce for 1 minute.
5. Add the djon djon water to the pot and let boil.  Add a little parsley and 5 branches of thyme to the water with the Jamaica scotch bonnet pepper and cloves. (Faby will show you how to add the cloves carefully so they don’t get lost later. You will remove them after the dish is complete so you don’t bite down on them, yuk) add butter (add salt – optional). Stir.
6.  Take the Jasmine rice and rinse until the water runs clear. Do this while the stock mixture is boiling. (Important: This will help the rice from becoming overcooked, there is also a cultural reason and a story that will be shared).
7. Once the water boils, add the Jasmine rice to the boiling stock mixture by dropping the rice carefully by hand, into the middle of the pot, in a pyramid shape. Do not put your hand into the boiling water! ( Faby will explain in detail: you may need more rice and more water but she will explain the details to get it just right. This is why you do not discard the lima bean water or the djon djon mushrooms).
8. Let the water evaporate and then turn the heat down to medium-low heat and put aluminum foil over the pan to steam the rice and let it cook for 20-30 minutes. 
9. Remove the scotch bonnet pepper, cloves, and thyme.
10. Stir. Serve. Enjoy!

Important Tips

You can find the dried Djon Djon mushrooms from a Haitian/ Caribbean grocery store OR buy them on Amazon. If you can’t find them at all, you can substitute the dried mushrooms with Maggie Djon Djon bouillon cubes instead. If you buy the Maggie djon djon instead of the dried djon djon mushrooms. You do not need to prepare it overnight. Fabiola will tell you when to add it at the end.

Tools needed:

• 1 pot for the beans
• 1 pot for the mushrooms
• 1 large pot
• 1 Frying pan (optional)
• A mortar & pestle OR a blender OR small food processor. This will be used to blend/ mash the herbs, garlic, etc. to make the Haitain Epis.

 

And buy all of the rest of these below

Ingredients Shopping List 

Bag of Frozen lima beans 

Two 3/4oz bags of dried djon djon mushroom (you can buy the Haitian dried mushrooms version or the Maggie Djon Djon bouillon cube version, not both. The real, dried djon djon mushroom version is preferred)

whole cloves (spice)

Coconut milk

Oil of choice

Butter

1 Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper

2 cloves of fresh garlic 

Fresh bunch of thyme

Fresh bunch of parsley

1 bunch Green Onion/ Scallions

White jasmine rice

Salt – optional

Raw shrimp (optional) – buy whatever size/ version you can afford.

Maggi Sazon Completo – this is seasoning, buy this also. This is not the same as the bullion cubes.

 

Here are the direct shopping links to ingredients 

that you may not be able to find near you:

Haitian djon djon dried mushroom: https://amzn.to/3m7ziFa

MAGGI Djon Djon bouillon cubes:  https://amzn.to/2PM0kWz

4 whole cloves spice: https://amzn.to/2QOeBTf

Maggi Sazon Completo 10.5oz https://amzn.to/3dwMW0Y