Last week it was mentioned to me the existence of a southern dish called "Hoppin' John".
After @thekittygirl spoke of this, I just had to know this South Carolina traditional New Years' southern comfort food.
I realized I haven't really consumed anything traditional of southern USA, except for things I've eaten in Canada such as canned gumbo soup as a child, cornbread, fried chicken and crab cakes made at a job I used to work at. When eating these things in Canada, I didn't really think of where they originated and had become popular.
I have had one traditional thing on one of my three road trips down south, and that was "grits". I had only heard of it on television shows, where someone would mention this with a southern drawl.
When I went on my first road trip down to Florida with my now ex husband's family in my mid 20's, I saw "grits" on the menu. I was excited to finally try it. It was as disappointing as the trip with my crazy in-laws in the motor home. I almost couldn't swallow it.
On another road trip which was down to Tennessee, I still didn't try anything that would be considered traditional southern food. We just grabbed burgers. It was another trip with the wrong company. A friend with anger management problems. Let's just say we did not make it to Elvis Presley's estate due to wrong directions and a lack of patience from an angry driver. I didn't want to go in the first place.
On my last road trip in the USA, as a divorced woman, down through the Carolinas to Florida and ending in Texas, I still didn't try anything traditional of the south.
One would think that a cruise on the Mississippi river in Louisiana, including dinner, would have offered some southern dishes. We had roast beef and mashed potatoes. The food and the cruise were as boring as the guy that I went with. We broke up after that trip.
This is not about my road trips so I'll hop along to Hoppin' John.
It seems that mostly black eyed peas are used in this dish. Some use pigeon peas which I also like but they are not in every store. I went with the most popular bean. The black eyed peas. Just saying those words sounds really Southern to me. Canadians don't put these on the top of their list.
For traditional hoppin' John, in most cases, bacon or salt pork is used.
Since I am making a plant based version of this, I will use store bought vegan sausages. I don't often purchase them but in this case I wanted to get the smoky flavor in the dish. These vegan sausages are smoky spicy flavor. They are really tasty.
Please be aware that these are not real sausages as we are in the plant based community. In my last post there were a couple of lovely people that thought my mushrooms were chicken😂. I had mentioned that I was making a mock version of what I once had eaten. I repeat, they are not real sausages and are 100 percent plant based.
There are people, I'm sure, that would want me in prison for daring to leave out bacon. Forgive me please. The vegan sausages will play the part in the role.
Moving forward.
South Carolina plant based Hoppin' John 300 g soaked black eyed peas 100 g red sweet pepper 70 g celery 180 g onion 15 g garlic 10 g habanero(optional) 350 g vegan sausage 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon thyme 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon onion powder 3 bay leaves 1/4 cup wine (optional) Salt to taste 170 g rice 1 litre vegetable broth or water
Beware the Habanero!
It's not a must for this dish, but it's a must for me. I thought that this sassy and scary pepper, was perfect for a dish like this.
You know what they say though. "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen."
I say, "if you can't stand the heat, get the habanero out of the kitchen".
Saute the onions, garlic, celery, and seasonings in oil until golden. Add the sausage and cook with those items to infuse the flavors. I added a splash of wine at this point but it's not necessary.
After cooking for a while, ten minutes or so, on simmer, add the beans and simmer another five minutes or so. My pot is not the greatest so cooking times will vary depending on the vessel. A dutch oven would be ideal but I don't own one. Add the broth and simmer until the beans are soft.
Even though I soaked the black eyed peas for two days in the fridge, they took longer than I expected. In fact it was well over an hour. I didn't want to pre cook them. I wanted the vegetable broth to cook them with the other items.
When they were soft, I added the rice. The rice had been well rinsed and strained of liquid.
At this point I simmered everything on low and let the liquid absorb. I started with less liquid and kept pouring until it was the perfect amount. It was around one litre in the end.
It wouldn't be southern comfort without some good old collards to put on the side. I decided to keep it separate so it didn't get lost in the stew.
The collards were kept simple with a chop and some onion and garlic. Fry the onion and garlic first.
The collards were added at the end and covered to cook down with some vegetable broth. The broth steams it and adds flavor.
Collards 450 g collard greens 100 g chopped onion 10 g garlic 2oo ml vegetable broth
Salting this dish was an on going thing. It depends on the saltiness of the ~~bacon~~/sausage and the saltiness of the vegetable broth. I had a homemade one. It has to be kept in mind that as the liquid evaporates, the salt factor increases.
This was a recipe that I made,doing my own thing with it, inspired by several recipes that I had research.
Because this dish traditionally contains bacon, pork or other meat, I am not sure if I have the right to call it "Hoppin' John".
Perhaps I should call it "Hoppin' Con". The dish that tries to con you into thinking it's "Hoppin' John".
Perhaps I should call it "Hop along John", the little plantbased sidekick of Hoppin' John.
Or should I call it "Hoping to be to be John"....okay I'll shut up now. I'm sure these lame jokes don't translate well.
I kid you not, this was really super tasty with a true feeling of southern comfort. I could imagine eating this at a southern diner on the patio alongside a bayou.
It's all devoured now and I need to make more.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
design by: @KidSisters
All photos taken with a Nikon D7500 by me except for the ones of me taken by my other half.