Djon Djon – Haitian Mushroom Rice

Djon Djon – Haitian Mushroom Rice

Preparation time: 15 minutes (excluding the time for soaking mushrooms)
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

Mushroom Cooking Water

  • 50 g dried djon djon mushrooms, cleaned
  • 1.25 L boiling water

Épis (Herb Mixture)

  • 0.5 g garlic cloves, peeled and halved
  • 18.8 g red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 2.5–3.4 g scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, halved and seeded
  • 6.8 g leek, coarsely chopped
  • 3.4 g flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems), coarsely chopped
  • 3.4 g cilantro (leaves and stems), coarsely chopped
  • 12.0 g vegetable oil
  • 1.0 g salt
  • 0.17 g ground black pepper

Rice

  • 490 g long-grain white rice, rinsed well (equivalent to about half the volume of the cooking water collected)
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml or ~28 g) vegetable oil
  • 200 g chopped onions (about one large onion)
  • 340 g pigeon peas (or frozen green peas)
  • 1.4 g dried thyme or 16 g fresh thyme
  • A pinch of black pepper
  • A pinch of ground cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 11.5 g powdered beef or chicken bouillon

Optional

  • 150 g salted pork fat or spiced pork fat ("enduit")
  • 75 g dried or fresh shrimp
  • 1 whole hot pepper (e.g., scotch bonnet)

Instructions

For the Mushroom Cooking Water

  1. Boil the mushrooms in water for 15 minutes (you can prepare the herb mixture during this time).
  2. Strain the cooking water through a fine sieve. Squeeze the mushrooms to extract all liquid, then discard them.
  3. Set this flavorful liquid aside.

For the Herb Mixture (Épis)

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and green. Set aside.

For the Rice

  1. Rinse the rice thoroughly with cold water, then drain. Set aside.
  2. In a medium pan or pot, sauté the onions in vegetable oil (and the salted pork or spiced fat if using) over medium heat.
  3. Add the herb mixture, peas (and shrimp, if using), and cook for 2–3 minutes.
  4. Stir in the mushroom cooking water, drained rice, thyme, black pepper, ground cloves, bay leaves, and powdered bouillon. Add the whole hot pepper if desired.
  5. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring gently, until no water is visible on the surface.
  6. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 8–10 minutes.
  7. Remove from heat, keeping the pot covered, and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.