What it is
Soft-cooked, lightly mashed brown beans served with a dark, intensely spicy pepper sauce made from dried peppers fried in a generous amount of palm oil. The beans themselves are mild and creamy, while the accompanying sauce is sharp, smoky and hot.
Key ingredients
- Brown beans
- Dried peppers
- Palm oil
- Onions
A list of what goes in, not a recipe. Quantities and method vary by household.
How it is eaten
Eaten with a spoon or by hand with bread, the mashed beans are ladled out and topped generously with the pepper sauce. It is commonly sold by roadside vendors in Lagos and eaten with sliced bread (agege bread) or on its own as a filling, inexpensive meal.
Cultural significance
Ewa agoyin takes its name from the Agoyin (Ewe-speaking) migrant labourers and cooks from the Republic of Benin and Togo who settled in Lagos and are credited with popularising this style of mashed beans and pepper sauce as street food. It is not a Yoruba dish by origin despite being strongly associated with Lagos street food culture today; it reflects a West African migrant food tradition absorbed into the city's everyday eating.
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