My husband grew up on a sea island off the coast of Charleston, SC. And since I met him when I was sixteen, his mother has served Hoppin’ John every New Year’s Day.
This classic southern dish is made with rice, black eyed peas, and a salted ham hock that is boiled for hours in a Dutch oven with spices and even more salt. While there are many, many recipes for this dish (most of which use cowpeas or field peas instead of black eyed peas), there are even more myths about the original recipe. Ask anyone in Charleston, and you’ll hear a different origin story. One of my favorites says this humble dinner is named after a man named John who used to dance in Charleston’s downtown market.
There’s also a belief that if you eat this dish, alongside a bowl of cooked collard greens, you’ll have good luck and good fortune all year long. (Maybe we didn’t eat enough of it last New Year’s Day!). Some believe that the collards represent greenbacks the peas represent coins. Other will swear that if you DON’T eat this dish on New Year’s, you somehow inherit a curse.
Being a girl from New Jersey, I didn’t care which story was true. Just the fact that the dish HAD a story was enough for me to eat the entire plate. The irony is that my husband and kids HATE this meal and refuse to eat it. So the only time I have it is when we spend New Year’s in Charleston with his mother and sisters. And the best part of the meal is the homemade cornbread that inevitably is served to mop up the gravy.
The recipe below is not perfectly authentic, but it uses ingredients that are available throughout the country. Even in New Jersey!
I hope you all have a happy and healthy New Year!
Hoppin’ John
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dry black-eyed peas
- 1 pound ham hocks
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- chopped green onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
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In a large saucepan, place the peas, ham hocks, onion, red pepper, salt, and pepper and then cover with the water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
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Remove the ham hocks and cut off the meat into pieces. Return the meat to the pot and stir in the rice. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. Season to taste with more salt and pepper and serve with the shredded cheddar cheese. Top with chopped green onions, if desired.
