Why This Recipe Works

We visited Ms. Emily Meggett at her Edisto Island, South Carolina, home and cooked through a recipe based on the hoppin’ John recipe in her cookbook, Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island (2022). This recipe is inspired by that experience (Ms. Meggett passed away in 2023). We opted to use Sea Island red peas here, as they are considered the traditional choice for hoppin’ John. We combined the peas with water and a ham hock that we split in half so that it would cook through at about the same rate as the peas. We drained the peas and reserved their cooking liquid and the pieces of ham hock to use in the finished dish. Then we browned salt pork and combined it with long-grain rice to season the rice and infuse it with meaty flavor. We then added granulated garlic, onion powder, the peas, reserved cooking liquid, and the ham hocks to the pot so that everything could cook together. We fluffed the finished rice with a carving fork as Ms. Emily would do.

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Before You Begin

This recipe is inspired by a cook-through with Ms. Emily Meggett and is based on the hoppin’ John recipe in her cookbook, Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island (2022). We split the ham hock in half so that it cooks through at about the same rate as the peas. We enjoy adding the optional smoky pieces of ham hock to our Hoppin’ John. If you prefer your rice and peas with less meat, feel free to leave it out. Note that not all salt pork is sold with its skin on.

Instructions

for the peas

Place 1 cup Sea Island red peas in medium bowl and cover with water. Slosh peas around with your hand to knock off loose dirt. Let peas settle, then pour off excess water along with any floating peas; repeat rinsing and pouring off excess water until no peas float.

Combine rinsed peas, 4 quarts water; 1 smoked ham hock, split vertically along bone; and 1 tablespoon salt in Dutch oven. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-low; cover; and simmer until peas are tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Reserve 2¼ cups pea cooking liquid and transfer ham hock pieces to plate to cool. Drain peas in colander in sink. (Cooked peas and liquid can be refrigerated separately for up to 24 hours or frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost before proceeding with recipe.) When cool enough to handle, chop ham hock into ½-inch pieces and reserve ¾ cup for hoppin’ John, if desired (reserve remaining ham for another use or discard).

for the hoppin john

Combine 6 ounces salt pork (skin removed, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into ¾-inch pieces) and ¼ cup vegetable oil in large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat until pork is evenly browned, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally and being mindful of splatter. (Pork will initially stick to bottom of pot but will eventually release as it browns.)

Add 1 cup chopped onion and 3 scallions, sliced ½ inch thick, to salt pork and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1½ cups unrinsed long-grain or Carolina Gold rice until grains are evenly coated with oil and cook, stirring often, until edges of rice are translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt; ¾ teaspoon pepper; ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic; ½ teaspoon onion powder; cooked peas; reserved pea cooking liquid; and chopped ham hock, if using, and bring to simmer. Once simmering, cover pot with sheet of aluminum foil, then cover with lid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes without removing lid.

Off heat, let hoppin’ John sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with carving fork. Transfer to shallow serving dish. Serve.