Overview

The black-eyed pea is a medium-sized edible legume, a subspecies of the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). It is pale-colored with a prominent black or dark spot at the hilum, and has a mild, earthy, slightly nutty flavor with a creamy texture when cooked. The bean is grown and eaten across West Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.

Origin and history

The cowpea is native to West Africa, where it was domesticated thousands of years ago [2]. Black-eyed peas were carried to the Americas via the transatlantic slave trade and became a staple in the Southern United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil. The bean also spread eastward into the Middle East and South Asia, where it was adopted into local cuisines. The common commercial variety in the United States is called the California Blackeye [2].

Varieties and aliases

  • California Blackeye: the dominant commercial variety in the U.S., pale with a black spot.
  • Lubia (Arabic): used across Egypt and the Levant [4].
  • Sandaek damnaeb (Khmer): the Cambodian name for the legume [3].
  • Đậu trắng (Vietnamese): literally “white bean,” used in sweet desserts [5].

Culinary uses

Black-eyed peas are typically soaked and boiled before use. In the Southern United States, they are cooked with pork or ham hock and served on New Year’s Day for good luck (Hoppin’ John). In Egypt and the Levant, they appear in lubia bel zeit (black-eyed peas in olive oil with tomato) and yakhne loubieh, a tomato-garlic-olive-oil stew [4]. In Cambodia, black-eyed peas are mixed with glutinous rice, grated coconut, and palm sugar, packed into bamboo tubes, and grilled to make kralan [3]. In Vietnam, they are cooked with glutinous rice in coconut milk and palm sugar to make chè đậu trắng, a thick sweet porridge [5]. In Armenian cuisine, black-eyed peas are one of the seven grains and pulses used in the Lenten filling for pasuts tolma [6].

Cross-cuisine context

Black-eyed peas have no single direct analogue in Mexican cuisine, where the dominant beans are common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) such as pinto, black, and bayo. Functionally, black-eyed peas occupy a similar role to frijoles in terms of being a boiled, seasoned legume, but their flavor and texture are distinct.

In the broader LA-relevant corpus, black-eyed peas appear across multiple cuisines. In the Philippines, pigeon pea (kadyos) is the canonical bean for the Iloilo dish KBL, but black-eyed peas are listed as a functional substitute [1]. In Cambodian and Vietnamese sweet soups, black-eyed peas serve a role similar to mung beans or red beans in Chinese-style tong sui.

Notes for cooks

  • Dried black-eyed peas do not require overnight soaking; a quick soak (boil for 2 minutes, then rest for 1 hour) is sufficient.
  • The black spot is not a defect. It is a natural marking at the hilum and does not affect flavor or texture.
  • Cooked black-eyed peas freeze well. Store in their cooking liquid to prevent drying out.