-
1
Place the black-eyed peas and the smoked ham hock in a heavy pot. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Cook until the peas are fully tender throughout — no resistance at the centre when pressed between finger and thumb.
-
2
Remove the ham hock. Pull the meat from the bone, shred it coarsely, and return the meat to the pot. Discard the bone and skin. Measure the remaining pea broth in the pot: adjust to the precise volume required to cook the rice — roughly 600 ml of liquid for 300 g of rice. This is where the dish lives or dies: too much liquid and the result is soup; too little and the rice will not cook through.
-
3
Add the long-grain rice to the pea broth, distributing the peas evenly. Bring to a bare simmer, then cover the pot tightly. Cook for 20–25 minutes without lifting the lid. At the end of the period, tilt the lid: the aroma rising from the pot should be of concentrated pork-and-pea broth with no raw-starch smell remaining.
-
4
Uncover and draw a fork across the surface: each grain should be distinct and separate, moist but not wet, with the peas distributed throughout the rice rather than sunk to the bottom. If any liquid pools at the edges, cover and rest off the heat for five minutes.