It's that time of the year when black bean soup is ever so popular in Lagos Island aka Isale eko in Nigeria. I have been itching to use my new slow cooker. In fact I have amazing slow cooker recipes lined up for you all so don't forget to sign up so you don't miss these juicy recipes.
Like I said I have been itching to use my slow cooker and this was a perfect opportunity to do just that. Dear Frejon you won't believe I just got to know about you last year. Me a confirmed beans lover. I happened to come across Frejon, a seasonal beans dish some where on Facebook and researched it on google and found some interesting info.
[bctt tweet="Dear Frejon you won't believe I just got to know about you last year. Me a confirmed beans lover" username="mydiasporakitch"]
I was surprised hubby knew about it when I was discussing my plan on putting up a recipe for it. Hmmm where have I been. lol
This yummy black bean soup is commonly eaten by the Portuguese and Brazilians. It was mentioned that it was introduced to the Nigerian culture by the returnee slaves from Brazil. Interesting..
I like to call this slow cooker black bean soup a Good Friday Delight because It is a meal eaten by Christian Lagosians especially Catholics on Good Friday. Which makes sense because the main protein on Good Friday is fish since abstinence from meat is encouraged during Lent especially on Good Friday. Frejon is eaten mainly with some peppered fish or fish stew and and a sprinke of garri ( cassava flakes)
Though this slow cooker black bean soup; Frejon is originally made from black beans and coconut milk, many recipes I saw online were made with different types of beans from brown beans to pinto beans to black eyed peas. I decided I would source the black beans and make this dish of which I am so curious to know how it tastes. I am hoping my family would join me in this culinary adventure. I would have used the black eyed peas which they are more familiar with and are more likely to try but what’s the adventure if we don’t move a little away from what we are used to. Keeping my fingers crossed. Wish me luck.......
I have tried making moin moin with coconut milk and it turned out great so I see no harm in giving this a try. Have you tried Frejon before. How did you enjoy it? Oh well! We are about to find out?. Let’s get cooking.
Love,
Update:
The slow cooker turned out to be perfect for this black bean soup. My son loved it. he actually called it some kind of dessert. it tasted really nice. hubby was all about the peppered fish combo. My daughters were not fans but I think I enjoyed mine. I will be using black beans a lot in my kitchen these days. Stay tuned for more. Have you tried Frejon or any black bean soup. Would love to hear all about it.
Hope you get to try this slow cooker black bean soup (frejon) this Good Friday and if you do, I Would love for you to rate it and tell me what you think in the comment section. You can share your amazing creations with me by posting on instagram with #mydiasporakitchen.
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PIN FOR LATER
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup; Frejon
Ingredients
- 1 lb Black beans
- 1 can 400ml coconut milk
- 40 g of sugar or to taste.
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
For Slow Cooker
- Wash beans and transfer into the slow cooker
- Add 400ml of coconut milk and ground cloves
- Add 4½ cup of water
- Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours
- Turn off slow cooker, then add sugar and salt
- With a hand blender, blend beans till smooth.
For Stove top
- Wash and boil beans without salt until really soft.
- Allow to cool, then blend till smooth in a blender or food processor with the coconut milk.
- Pass through a sieve to get it a little bit smoother and to get some chaff out.(If your blender didn't get it as smooth as you would like.) You will need a spoon to help you while you sieve.
- Pour your sieved beans back into the pot, add sugar, and some salt. Then cook on low heat while stirring constantly until it thickens like a light porridge.
- Turn off heat and allow to cool.
Serving suggestions
- Serve with a topping of more coconut milk
- With a side of peppered fish and garri
Notes
I want to try this for the first time but I have no idea where I can get black beans right now
Hi Khose,
I totally understand, we are in crazy times at the moment. It depends on where you live though. You can get some online or use canned black beans. Stay Safe!
- Chichi
You can use Goya or any other canned beans. They work just as well. Just made Frejon on Good Friday and it turned out exactly as if I had boiled the beans for hours, grated the coconut and beat it forever to extra the milk.
I have some black beans mama gave me last year after we had frejon at her place...for fear of racking up nepa bills or finishing my whole gas i haven't cooked it till now...pray tell..can i take this beans to the mill for grinding so that i can shorten the cooking time?can i use the flour for some kind of batter or moin moin or something? ...i can try anything except use my dear gas to cook black beans.lol....mama says pressure cooker does not cook it quick when i asked.the beans must be stone.lol
Dear Ooch,
I must first apologize for my delayed response. Just saw your comment. I think if you soak the beans overnight it will help with the cooking time. I don’t know why mama said the pressure cooker won’t work because I think it would. Probably you didn’t hear her right. If you have a pressure cooker I would suggest you try it. As per making it into moi moi, I haven’t tried that before but I don’t see why not. Would love to know how it goes if you do give it a try. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking out time to drop a comment. I appreciate it.
My granny who recently passed on made this for us on Good Friday when we were little
This made me nostalgic
I will certainly try it
Thanks a lot
Awww... Sorry for your loss. May her soul RIP. Happy to hear it brings back fond memories. You are very welcome Eseosa. Would love to hear all about it when you get the chance to try it. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow! I have never tried it but it looks good.
It’s actually yum Unyime. I never knew black beans tasted this good. Thanks for stopping by ?
This is one of my favourite easy comfort food dishes, but I have never done it in the slow cooker Definitely trying that next week.
Awesome. Thank you Danielle.
what a drool worthy photo YUM!!
Thanks much Claudia. 🙂
This is the perfect comfort food I need with this super freezing weather, will make it soon!
Sure thing Andrea. Thank you 🙂
Wow..with only five ingredients you have conjured up such a fantastic soup, I never had this before, so tempting.
I've never heard of Frejon either. I'm intrigued though - beans, coconut milk and cloves. Sounds really nutritious!