Asian Black-Eyed Pea Rice Salad

After the New Year is rung in tonight, most Southern families put together a black-eyed pea dish for good luck. There are a few different legends that explain how the black-eyed pea became a staple in the South.

One legend dates all the way back to the Babylonian period, when they were eaten at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The Sephardi Jews first settled in Georgia in 1783 and non-Jew Southerners picked up the practice around the time of the Civil War, according to the legend. (Northerners view these peas as fodder for animals so these crops weren’t destroyed during the war, according to the story.) With scarce supplies for food, non-Jew Southerners developed their own style of cooking the peas with pork for flavoring.

Many times black-eyed peas are made with rice and in keeping with pea-rice blend; here is a light black-eyed pea rice salad with Asian dressing that gives this tradition a new taste. Hong Kong Supermarket had all the ingredients needed for this New Year's dish.

Asian Black-Eyed Pea Rice Salad

Dressing:

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp peeled fresh ginger, minced

1 lg garlic clove, minced

¼ tsp hot red pepper flakes

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Salad:

1 cup cooked jasmine rice, cooled

1 – 15.5 oz can of black-eyed peas drained & rinsed

2 Serrano chilies cored & sliced thinly

½ cup chopped basil

¼ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup chopped mint

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced into ½” cubes

1.5 cup of diced cantaloupe, ½-inch cube

3 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Salt and pepper, to taste

Watercress for garnish

Directions: 

Add all the ingredients for the salad dressing in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously until oil is emulsified.

Mix all the salad ingredients together except for the sesame seeds. Add salad dressing mix to taste and add salt & pepper to taste. Lay the watercress on a serving plate and top with the black-eyed pea rice salad. Top with sesame seeds and serve.

Serves 6 to 8 people