Plate 03 of 10

Diri ak Djon Djon

Name: Diri ak Djon Djon
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8 feast portions
Cuisine: Haiti
Ingredients: 60 g Dried Haitian djon djon mushrooms, caps and stems; 1.2 L Hot filtered water, for steeping; 500 g Long-grain white rice, parboiled or jasmine, rinsed until clear and drained dry; 45 ml Unsalted butter; 30 ml Neutral vegetable or olive oil; 1 large Yellow onion, peeled and cut into 4 mm brunoise; 4 cloves Fresh garlic, minced to a fine paste; 30 ml Haitian green épice; 4 whole Whole cloves; 4 sprigs Fresh thyme, tied with twine; 1 whole Fresh Scotch bonnet pepper, unpunctured with the stem intact; 15 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Freshly ground black pepper; 300 g Raw wild shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed; 250 g Green lima beans (pwa disi), fresh, frozen or tinned and drained; 150 g Sweet green peas, fresh or frozen; 15 ml Fresh lime juice

The crown of the celebration table. The mushrooms are never eaten — they are steeped and then pressed hard through a sieve for their inky liquor, which carries both the melanin pigment and the guanylate that makes the rice taste of forest floor. Press them properly or you throw away half the dish.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 40 min
Serves: 8 feast portions
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A rustic cream-rimmed bowl heaped with glistening jet-black rice studded with bright green peas, on a dark wooden table.

Diri ak djon djon is the crown of the Haitian celebration table — weddings, baptisms, Christmas banquets.

Its obsidian colour and forest-floor aroma come from djon djon, the small wild black mushrooms harvested on the northern mountain plateaus around Cap-Haïtien. They are not eaten. Caps and stems are steeped in hot water and pressed through a fine sieve to extract an inky liquor thick with earthy umami, and the pulp is thrown away.

Long-grain rice then drinks that black broth alongside tender lima beans, sweet peas, plump shrimp, whole cloves, garlic and a Scotch bonnet floating on top.

Ingredients

The black broth
60 gDried Haitian djon djon mushrooms, caps and stems
1.2 LHot filtered water, for steeping
The rice
500 gLong-grain white rice, parboiled or jasmine, rinsed until clear and drained dry
45 mlUnsalted butter15 ml to cook, 30 ml cold to finish
30 mlNeutral vegetable or olive oil
The aromatics
1 largeYellow onion, peeled and cut into 4 mm brunoise
4 clovesFresh garlic, minced to a fine paste
30 mlHaitian green épice
4 wholeWhole cloves
4 sprigsFresh thyme, tied with twine
1 wholeFresh Scotch bonnet pepper, unpunctured with the stem intact
15 gFine sea saltdivided between the shrimp and the broth
3 gFreshly ground black pepper
The garnish
300 gRaw wild shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
250 gGreen lima beans (pwa disi), fresh, frozen or tinned and drained
150 gSweet green peas, fresh or frozen
15 mlFresh lime juice

Press the pulp hard

Steeping alone gets you perhaps half of it. The melanin pigments and the water-soluble inosinate and guanylate come out under mechanical pressure — lean on the pulp with the back of a ladle until you have 900 ml of genuinely inky liquor.

1.8 to 1

900 ml of black broth to 500 g of rice. Rinsed grain sautéed in butter and oil carries a hydrophobic coat, and at that ratio the starches absorb the liquid from within into separate shiny pitch-black grains.

Stir once, then stop

Stirring after the broth goes in leaches surface starch and turns the pot gummy. One stir, then leave it alone until the steam is finished.

The pepper stays whole

Torn open it floods a delicate mushroom rice with heat. Floated whole on the surface it contributes only fragrant steam.

Crimp foil under the lid

A proper steam lock means the top grains finish at the same moment as the bottom ones. Without it the surface stays chalky.

Passive time, counted separately

The mushrooms steep 20 minutes and the finished pot rests 5. Neither is active work.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt dissolves into the black broth and seasons each grain to the core. Fat is butter and oil sheathing the kernels against clumping. Acid is mostly absent — a drop of lime at service does the balancing. Heat is floating Scotch bonnet steam, clove, garlic and black pepper. Umami is the mushroom nucleotides, sweet shrimp and lima beans.

Equipment

6 qt enamelled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight lid
Blender
Fine-mesh chinois and a ladle
Aluminium foil, for the steam lock
Carving fork

Traditionally a heavy cast-aluminium chaudron over charcoal. A 6-quart enamelled Dutch oven works in a modern kitchen — crimp foil under the lid to make an airtight steam chamber, which is what guarantees even top-to-bottom cooking.

Method

Extract the black broth25 min
Steep the 60 g dried djon djon in 1.2 L hot water 20 minutes.
Pulse mushrooms and liquid three times in a blender to break the stems, then pour through a fine chinois, pressing the pulp hard with the back of a ladle. You want 900 ml of inky black broth. Discard the pulp.
Steep 60 g dried mushrooms in 1.2 L hot water for 20 minutes. Pulse mushrooms and liquid three times, strain finely and press the pulp firmly to extract 900 ml black broth. Discard pulp.
Shrimp, then aromatics9 min
Toss the shrimp with the lime juice, salt and pepper. Melt the oil and 15 ml butter in the Dutch oven over medium and sauté the shrimp strictly 2 minutes until pink, then lift them out.
In the same pot sauté the onion, garlic and épice 5 minutes until soft, then stir in the lima beans and cloves and cook 2 minutes.
Toss shrimp with lime, salt and pepper. Heat oil and 15 ml butter over medium; sauté shrimp strictly 2 minutes until pink and remove. Soften onion, garlic and épice 5 minutes; add lima beans and cloves for 2 minutes.
Toast the rice3 min
Add the rinsed drained rice and sauté continuously 3 minutes, until the grains turn translucent in the aromatic oil.
Add the rinsed, well-drained rice and sauté continuously for 3 minutes, until the grains become translucent in the aromatic oil.
Broth in, boil down8 min
Pour in the 900 ml black broth with 12 g salt, the black pepper and the thyme bundle.
Bring to a rolling boil and boil uncovered 6 to 8 minutes, until the liquid drops level with the rice and steam craters open on the surface.
Add 900 ml black broth, 12 g salt, black pepper and thyme. Stir once only. Boil uncovered 6–8 minutes until liquid reaches rice level and steam holes appear; do not keep stirring.
Steam under a foil lock20 min
Scatter the peas and the cooked shrimp over the rice and set the whole unbroken Scotch bonnet in the centre.
Turn to the lowest heat, crimp foil tightly over the rim, press the lid down, and steam undisturbed 20 minutes. Do not lift it.
Scatter peas and cooked shrimp over the rice; place the intact Scotch bonnet in the centre. Reduce to lowest heat, seal the rim with foil and cover tightly. Steam 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
Fluff and serve
Lift out and discard the Scotch bonnet and the thyme stems, dot with the remaining 30 ml cold butter, and fluff gently from the bottom up with a carving fork.
Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Remove and discard the pepper and thyme stems. Add the remaining 30 ml cold butter, fluff gently from the bottom with a fork, and rest 5 minutes before serving.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a glistening mound of jet-black grains speckled with pale lima beans, emerald peas and coral shrimp, separating cleanly under a fork.
- Auditory: a quiet dry crackle at the bottom of the pot as the steam finishes, and no wet bubbling at all.
- Olfactory: intense forest floor, dried wild mushroom, sweet butter, clove, thyme and shrimp.
Check that the glossy black grains separate under a fork, with pale beans, green peas and coral shrimp. Steam should finish with a quiet dry crackle, without wet bubbling.

Troubleshooting

Grey rice instead of black.: The mushroom pulp was not pressed. Lean on it hard through the sieve.
Gummy, sticky grains.: The pot was stirred after the broth went in. One stir only.
Overwhelming heat.: The Scotch bonnet was punctured. Float it whole and lift it out at the end.

Substitutions

One-to-one global substitutions, with the technique adjustment each one requires.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Djon djon	Dried black trumpet, or dried porcini with 1 Tbsp dark mushroom soy	One-to-one. The same deep earthy flavour and dark colour
Lima beans (pwa disi)	Frozen baby limas, edamame, or green pigeon peas	One-to-one, added with the broth
Long-grain rice	Parboiled, or long-grain jasmine	One-to-one. Parboiled gives the most separate grains

Scaling

Half, for 4 portions

Halve everything in a 3.5-quart Dutch oven and steam 18 minutes.

Double, for 16 portions

Double everything in a 12-to-14 quart pot over a burner wide enough to heat the whole base evenly.

What to serve it with

Griot de porc, crisp from the fryer
Pikliz
Banan peze
A Barbancourt rum sour, or a chilled Prestige

Questions

What if I cannot find djon djon?

Dried black trumpet mushrooms, or dried porcini with a drop of dark mushroom soy, give a similar forest umami and colour.

Can I leave out the shrimp?

Yes. It is very often made vegetarian with just lima beans and sweet peas.

Why the foil under the lid?

It makes a tight steam lock, so the top grains cook at the same rate as the bottom ones.