Sos Pwa Nwa and Mayi Moulen (Black Bean Sauce and Cornmeal)
4.5
(44)
Sos pwa nwa is a stewy Haitian black bean sauce that combines beans, coconut milk, and aromatics to create a deep velvety dish. Starting with dried, not canned, beans makes a big difference, as canned beans will never achieve that same rich texture. Sos pwa nwa is most often eaten with white rice or mayi moulen, a thick and creamy cornmeal-based dish. It’s similar to polenta but infused with much more flavor thanks to aromatics such as garlic, thyme, and parsley. Included in this recipe is a hack for less labor-intensive cornmeal: Cover it with a lid! This way you won’t have to stir as often. But when you do stir, really put your back into it—mayi moulen is thick and requires some elbow grease to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. The pairing of the sos pwa nwa and mayi moulen is a deeply comforting vegan meal, perfect for cold nights. —Lesley Enston
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What you’ll need
Lodge 7.5 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
$100 At Amazon
Immersion Blender
$100 At Amazon
8-Inch Chef's Knife
$47 At Amazon
Colander
$11 At Amazon
Large Saucepan
$60 At Amazon
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Small Skillet
$23 At Amazon
Ladle
$8 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
3
1
3
5
5
4
½
3½
3
1
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Place 1 cup dried black beans (no need to soak) in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Combine black beans, 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, and 5 cups water in a large saucepan or small pot. Bring to boil over high heat and cook 15 minutes.
Step 2
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer beans, checking occasionally and adding more water if needed to keep covered, until tender but not mushy, 1½��2 hours. Squeeze a bean between your fingers to test.
Step 3
Meanwhile, peel and finely chop 1 small onion; set aside for mayi moulen. Thinly slice 3 scallions. Smash 5 garlic cloves with the side of chef’s knife, peel, and finely chop. Remove leaves from 5 sprigs parsley and 4 sprigs thyme and coarsely chop; discard stems.
Step 4
Purée most but not all of the beans in pan with an immersion blender (or, transfer about half of the beans to a regular blender and blend until mostly smooth; mix back into beans in pan).
Step 5
Heat 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a small skillet over medium. Cook scallions and a little less than half of the garlic, stirring often, until starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Scrape into beans, then add half of the parsley, half of the thyme, ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk, and 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Press 3 whole cloves into 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile (this will make them easy to find later!) and add chile to pot; bring bean mixture to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to thicken (but don’t cook so aggressively that chile breaks open), 15–20 minutes. Sos pwa nwa should still be loose enough to spread on a plate. Thin with water if needed. Taste and season with more salt as needed. Carefully fish out and discard chile.
Step 6
Meanwhile, make the mayi moulen: Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Cook reserved onion and remaining garlic, stirring often, until starting to turn golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil.
Step 7
Whisking constantly, gradually sprinkle in 1 cup cornmeal, then add remaining thyme, remaining parsley, and remaining 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until starting to thicken, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook, stirring vigorously every 5 minutes or so, until cornmeal is velvety smooth and no longer gritty, 18–25 minutes. Taste mayi moulen and season with more salt if needed.
Step 8
Thinly slice 1 avocado. Remove leaves from another 1–2 sprigs parsley and coarsely chop. Mound mayi moulen on plates, then ladle sos pwa nwa next to it, letting it spread. Top with avocado slices and chopped parsley.
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Reviews (44)
Back to TopAmazingly delicious, simple, and healthy. Like another reviewer, this is now my go to black bean recipe for anything even without the cornmeal half. Family says the beans this way are better than they every had in any Caribbean or Mexican restaurant.
Anonymous
Phoenix, AZ
2/20/2024
I *still* really love this recipe. The Sos Pwa Nwa is now my preferred method for making black beans. I will say that most recently I couldn't find a Scotch bonnet and went with two habaneros instead and I really missed the heat and sweetness from the Scotch bonnet. I won't make that substitute next time!
Anonymous
LA CA
5/3/2021
I really loved this recipe. I am not particularly familiar with Haitian food so I followed the recipe closely (only substituting dried thyme for fresh) and found the flavors to be delicious. The textures were great to me - this felt like a warm hug in a bowl. The cornmeal ended up better than just about every way I've attempted to make polenta. Looking forward to putting this into my regular dinner rotation.
Anonymous
LA CA
3/31/2021
I garnish mine with Pikliz for texture.
Derek
3/2/2021
I made this using 2 cans of black beans and all the liquid. The beans were very saucy, I cooked on low for close to 1.5 hours before it was thickened. If using canned black beans, I'd add only enough liquid to get them spinning in the blender easily, and wouldn't start w all the liquid from 2 cans. On the whole, it was a fine meal. I found the texture to be very same. I think the avocado is unnecessary- the flavor gets lost and it doesn't add anything texture wise. I added like zest and juice to the beans and cornmeal after taking off the heat which really helped the flavors pop. Was pretty flat without it. I didn't measure the salt but felt like it took much more salt than the recipe called for. I would strongly advice salting to taste, not based on the measurements. Especially if it seems quite bland. I have leftovers still, will probably try topping with something crunchy- toasted coconut chips or thinly sliced radish, maybe even some lightly pickled carrots or onions? Or roasted salted nuts. Crush corn chips even! It really needs something to change up the texture.
Anonymous
2/23/2021
was super excited to try out this recipe. This was my first time trying to make Haitian cuisine. I was a bit disappointed however, because it came out pretty bland. Next time I need to add more salt, spices, and green onion. I think some butter or any type of animal fat instead of olive oil might be a good idea to add more flavor. I am curious to try an authentic version of this dish.
Naomi
California
2/10/2021
This was awesome! I couldn't find scotch bonnet or habanero so ended up using jalapeno, which was still really good but next time I will definitely use one of the former for a punchier flavour. Also used ground cloves instead of whole and honestly because of how saucy and hydrated both components of this dish are I'm inclined to use dried parsley and thyme for an even more pantry friendly meal. I am 100% adding this to my rotation.
Anonymous
Ottawa, ON
1/31/2021