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How to Make Dry Bitter Leaves Fresh

This procedure details how to make washed and dried bitter leaves soft so it will be like freshly washed leaves suitable for preparing Bitterleaf Soup. Sometimes you can't help but miss motherland where you had access to freshly washed bitter leaves. The dry leaves make your Bitterleaf Soup taste like cardboard, right? Your nightmare is over when you learn these easy steps.

You will need:

• Dry Bitter Leaves
• Food Tenderiser (Akanwu)
• Water
• Plastic Bags
• Sieve
• Big Pot
• Stove/Cooker
• Pressure Cooker (Optional)

Procedure

If you have a pressure cooker, you can put the dry bitter leaves directly into the pot. Putting them is in a plastic bag will not be necessary as its function is to create pressure around the dry bitter leaves during the cooking process.

1. Wash the dry bitter leaves and place in a plastic bag. Use several bags if you are tenderising a large quantity as this enables the leaves to soften faster.
A titanium plastic bag without holes works best for this purpose. Titanium so that it can withstand the heat and having no holes will make it airtight. The more airtight it is, the faster the dry bitter leaves will soften.

2. Spread powdered food tenderiser (akanwu) on the bitter leaves and ruffle the bag to distribute well.



3. Tie the handles of the bag(s) in such a way that the bag(s) are air-tight.


4. Place in a big pot, pour some water and start cooking. Leave to boil for about 1 hour, turn off the heat and allow to cool.

5. Transfer the bitter leaves into a bowl, pour cold water and start washing, rubbing the leaves together just as when handwashing a cloth. This is to remove all traces of bitterness and the tenderiser as much as possible.


6. At first the water will be as dark as Guinness Stout® so change the water often till you have clean leaves with as little foam as possible.


7. When you feel that the bitter leaves have been thoroughly washed, squeeze the leaves to remove as much water as possible.


8. Place in plastic bags or containers and store in the freezer for future use.


It is good practice to boil considerable quantities at a time so that it will last you a while. This saves the cooking time whenever you want to prepare Bitterleaf Soup.

How to Extract Coconut Milk

These steps will show you how to extract the rich coconut milk from the fruit. The coconut milk is the extract used in preparing the Nigerian Coconut Rice.

You will need:

• 1 coconut
• Hammer or any breaking tool
• Blender/Grater
• Knife
• Warm water
• Sieve with a fine mesh
• Plastic bowls

Procedure

1. Break the coconut into pieces with a hammer and pry out the coconut meat from the shell.




2. Wash and cut the coconut meat into tiny pieces.



3. Place in a blender, add a small quantity of warm water (just enough to allow the blender blades to rotate freely) and grind into a smooth paste. You can also use a grater for this purpose. But a blender is more efficient.





4. Pour the mixture of coconut milk and chaff into a sieve with tiny holes so that none of the chaff gets through.





5. Use hands to squeeze out as much milk from the chaff as possible.



6. If you feel that there is more milk in the chaff, place the chaff in a bowl and add a small quantity of warm water.


Repeat steps 4 and 5 till the milk that comes out becomes too pale. Remember that the coconut milk will later be used in cooking the rice so if the water becomes too much, the rice will be overcooked. This is not what we want so add water sparingly.

Preparation and Use of Moi Moi Containers.

Moi Moi, a beans derivative, is a Nigerian food recipe that cannot be cooked directly in a pot or frying pan. The moi moi mix is usually put into containers or holders. These containers are then placed in a pot containing water and cooked indirectly. There are 3 well known moi moi containers. These are plastic/aluminium bowls, aluminium foil and Uma leaves (Thaumatococcus Daniellii).

Preparation

Small Plastic/Aluminium Bowls

There used to be a time when there were Moi Moi Saturdays. If you and your family still enjoy this treat and you prefer using plastic bowls for Moi Moi, then you must have a set of these specially for this purpose. These days, there are also single-use aluminium bowls in the market.
All you need to do is bring them out, wash, dry and oil the inside of the bowls. And you are good to go.

Aluminium foil

You may want to use aluminium foils if you want your Moi Moi to cook in less time. The meal is also more presentable if wrapped in foils. This is important if you will have guests for dinner or will be hosting a party.
The catch is that there is a bit of work to be done in making the foils. You need to cut the foil in pieces depending on the desired size. Fold the open edges to make a flat bag, leaving one end open. It is always advisable to double the pieces of aluminium foil when making the bags. This ensures the bags do not burst during cooking due to intense heat.
The following is a video on how to make aluminum foil bags for cooking Nigerian Moi Moi

Uma (Thaumatococcus Daniellii) Leaves

This is the Moi Moi wrapper you should be going for at all times. If you want your Moi Moi to cook even faster, this is the wrapper for you! It even adds some natural flavour to the recipe.
Here, some work and skill is required. Most of the work goes to meticulous washing of the bold leaves. It is advisable to wash them at least 2 times. The first wash is with salt water and a foam sponge. This ensures that all the dust and dirt are removed. The second wash is basically rinsing them in plenty of water. Then remove the leaf stalk and you are ready to go. Skill is required to fold the leaves into cones. This will be discussed in the usage section.

Usage

Small Plastic/Aluminium Bowls

1. Before putting the moi moi mix into the plastic/aluminium bowls, first of all rub the insides of these bowls with vegetable oil. This is to prevent the moi moi from sticking to the bowl after cooking.
2. When putting the moi moi mix, it is advisable to keep the contents only up to half of the container. This is because moi moi rises during cooking. If the container is filled to the brim the contents will overflow during cooking.
3. While cooking the moi moi, water that is poured into the pot should only be half way up the bowls at the bottom of the pot. This is so that the water used in cooking the moi moi will not go into the bowls.

Aluminium foil

1. Scoop some moi moi mix into the aluminium foil bag through the open end of the bag. Just as in the case of bowls, it is advisable to keep the contents only up to half of the folded aluminium bag. This is because moi moi rises during cooking. If the bag is filled to the brim, it will burst during cooking with the contents flowing into the pot and making a mess.
2. When you are happy with the quantity, fold the open end of the aluminium bag and place the bag in a padded pot. Padding should be placed at the base of the cooking pot used in cooking moi moi that is wrapped in aluminium foils. Placing the bags of aluminium foils directly in the pot will cause the bags at the base to burst due to intense heat.
3. The bags of moi moi should be placed into a pot of boiling water and not cold water. This is so that the contents will set almost immediately thereby preventing accidental leakage.

Uma (Thaumatococcus Daniellii) Leaves

1. The stalks of uma leaves that were taken out during washing should be used to pad the base of the pot and the folded moi moi placed on these to prevent burning of the wraps at the base of the pot.
2. It is advisable to use at least 2 leaves to make one wrap. This doubling ensures a better reinforcement for the moi moi wraps to avoid leakages. Please note that with uma leaves, it is hard to achieve 0% leakage but we can live with tiny leakages.
3. To make uma wraps: First of all, place 2 leaves on top of each other, fold them into a cone. Then bend the pointed end and hold it there. Put some moi moi mix into the cone. Fold the open end and place the wrap in a pot of boiling water. The quantity of water should be so small that your fingers will barely touch it.
4. If you do not get it the first time, do not worry. This skill is perfected with practice. With time, you may even device your own easier method of doing this. Just remember that the goal is to make a wrap that allows the moi moi stay in the leaf without leaking out. There is no one formula of doing this, neither is it magic!
   
   

   How to Reduce Beans Bloating

   Beans contain special sugar molecules known as oligosaccharides. These sugar molecules require special anti-oligosaccharide enzymes which is absent in the human digestive track to properly digest them. The incomplete digestion therefore produces gas which causes discomfort and flatulence.
   This indigestion, bloating and subsequently, flatulence are the major factors limiting the consumption of this nutritious and healthy staple food. But we will not let this problem force us to abandon the wonderful benefits of eating beans.
   The following practices and habits should help reduce the problems associated with eating beans.
   

   Cooking practices that will help reduce beans bloating are:

5. Always wash dry beans thoroughly then soak for at least 5 hours before cooking them. Then when you start cooking, boil for 5 minutes, discard the water and rinse again. This helps eliminate some of the molecules that favour gas formation.
6. Do not add salt right away when cooking beans. This cooking advice is important because adding salt too early slows down or hampers the process of boiling off the unwanted substances which cause gas and subsequently indigestion.
7. Never undercook beans. Most dry beans should be cooked for at least 1 hour, except when using pressure cookers. Cooking the beans thoroughly continues the process of eliminating the complex oligosaccharides.
8. Cook the beans recipes where beans are mixed with other staple foods such as Rice and Beans and Beans and Yam/Plantain/Potato/Baby Corn Porridge. This is so that your digestive track does not have too much beans to digest in one meal.
9. Prepare the beans recipes where the beans coat is completely removed such as in Nigerian Moi Moi and Akara. Removing the beans coat greatly reduces the unwanted sustances in the beans.

Some eating habits that will help reduce beans bloating are:

1. Eat beans and similar legumes regularly to build up your body's ability to process them.
2. Limit the quantity of beans you eat in a meal. Start with small quantities then slowly increase consumption levels as your digestive track adapts to digesting the beans.
3. Drink more water than usual when eating beans. This will help the digestive enzymes process the food better.
4. Carbonated drinks add to the gas production problem so they should be avoided when eating beans.

Hopefully these techniques will work for you. If not, no problem, give it more time. Remember that flatulence is only a social concern, there is no psychological or physical harm caused by eating beans. So do not allow a little gas stop you from enjoying the nutritional benefits of eating beans.