Seed sauce/Palm Nut Sign
There are recipes that I have learned to cook here in Germany and that I would like to reproduce in Cameroon to make them taste my mother too, especially because I am sure that I would have access to more natural ingredients, the real organic 😂. Not to say here that my sauce was not good eh .. far from it! I even really appreciated, it was so good, I was even surprised by his taste. I even wondered if I did not already prefer the seed sauce with peanut sauce?
What is the seed sauce?
The seed sauce is made from palm nut juice and cooked with meat or fish, tomatoes and onions . Since I didn't have palm nuts here, I used the palm nuts that can be bought in almost all Afoshops.
And it works very well too. Well, it is true that I would have liked to make the recipe with the real palm nuts in the country ( poor of me! ), But at least with the concentrate of palm juice, we save time 😅.
How to extract the juice from palm nuts:
If you are in the country and you want to try the recipe, you should extract the palm nut juice yourself. The process is quite simple, don't panic! Just just:
- to boil the nuts with enough water for about 20 minutes,
- Then pound in a mortar,
- And rinse them with water to extract the juice.
If you are in Cameroon, know that it is exactly the same process you have to do as when you want to cook Okok 😊
Seed sauce in Africa:
This sauce is apparently very popular in West Africa and myself, I didn't even know! I knew the sauce under the name of seed sauce , as one of the most popular dishes in Côte d'Ivoire .
But when I did research for this article, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the seed sauce was also prepared in Cameroon . And yes 😆 and not only….
- She is known as Mbanga soup in the country. It is a traditional meal of the Bakweri people in southern Cameroon . She is colloquially called "Timanambusa". Purists among the Bakweri say that she is actually called "Timba Na Mbusa". Say it very quickly: Tim-Ba-Na-Mbu-Sa. I heard that it means to eat and come back 😊! And honestly, they don't lie huh ... the sauce is too good, have
- In Congo too, the seed sauce is present, but under the name of Moambe
- In Ghana it's ABENKWA !.
- In Nigeria , it is known by two names: Banga soup in the Delta region of Niger and OFE Akwu among the Igbos.
Like what we really eat the same thing in Africa, except that the names are different 😆 (that is also why my blog exists huh?! 😏 To show you all our culinary common points?! 😄, purest if we can say that like that!).
Is the seed sauce healthy?
As soon as we wait to talk about palm, the first thought that comes to the minds of many people is: it is directly fat! Which is completely false. According to my research , the seed sauce is even considered healthy 😌. It is very rich in vitamins A, E, K, in protein, fiber and other essential nutrients
You should also know that palm juice is different from red PA oil. They are all 2 palm extracts, but red oil is extracted at high temperature. It therefore contains more saturated fatty acids than juice.
As juice contains less saturated fatty acids, this sauce is even recommended for people with hypertension. In addition, nut juice is not the only ingredient in the sauce! The sauce is cooked with fish or meat. In addition, we add spices, tomatoes, onions, in short, fresh vegetables. All these ingredients are also sources of healthy nutrients. If you want to know more about the benefits of this soup, you can take a look here .
Tips and variation of the recipe:
- In Nigeria, the sauce is traditionally prepared with fish , but the Ivorians prefer it with meat, preferably smoked, to strengthen its taste 😋. Here I used smoked pork and chicken.
- I preferred to cook the palm juice in another pot , to be able to sift and remove the impurities, before incorporating it into the meat.
- You can add a few leaves or spinach to the sauce, if you like it. In Côte d'Ivoire, you sometimes add dried or fresh okra. In the recipe, so I added the dried okra. Here, I try to rehydrate by diluting in water before adding in the sauce.
- When palm juice is cooked, the oil tends to rise to the surface. You can do like me and remove the excess oil that is produced.
This is all the oil that I could remove with my little ladle:
What do we accompany the seed sauce with? ::
- In Côte d'Ivoire, it is served with Foutou banana (as I did here 😋) or with rice.
- In Cameroon, we accompany the sauce with the Kwacoco (Macabo Rapé)
- In Nigeria, it is generally served with any type of foufou, such as crushed yam or eba ( couscous of Tapioca).
- In Ghana, it is also served with Foutoutou or Banku , a couscous prepared with a mixture of corn and cassava .
How to cook the seed sauce:
Now let's go to the recipe 😊 It is super easy to make. I decided here to season the meat a little before cooking it. This step is optional, it's just that I just like my meat to have a good taste 😋.
Well I tell you good appetite in advance huh?! I'm sure you will love this recipe 😚. If you have a question or a remark, write to me in the comments 😉.
Seed sauce/ Palm Nut Sou/ Banga Soup
Team
- 2 pots
- 1 Talie or a machine to crush
- 1 sieve
Ingredients
- 3 Tomatoes
- 4 small onions
- 2 tsp. soup
- 1.5 liters of water
- 800 grams of palm juice concentrate
- 1 kg of smoked pork contributions
- 1 soup chicken
- Salt, pepper
Meat seasoning
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp. powdered or fresh ginger
- pepper, salt
- 1 pepper
- A small handful of fresh basilica
Instructions
- Crush all the ingredients to season the meat.
- Season the meat. Salt, pepper and leave to marinate 1 to 2 hours before. Or the day before if you wish. This step is optional.
- In a small saucepan, mix the juice with a concentrated palm with a liter of water and bring to a boil.
- In another large saucepan, put the meat previously seasoned, cut an onion and place the rest of the onions, tomatoes and peppers above the meat.
- Add 0.5 liters of water and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Dilute the dried Gombo with a little water.
- Meanwhile, palm juice will probably already boil, you will know if the red excess oil goes up to the surface.
- Remove the excess oil using a large ladle.
- After the 20 minutes of cooking meat, remove the onions, tomatoes and peppers were on meat
- And crush them with a tail, a crushing stone or a machine.
- Sift the palm juice directly in the meat, to shrink the impurities.
- Add the crushed tombs and tomatoes.
- Simmer another 20 minutes. Season if necessary with salt and pepper.
- Serve the sauce with the Foutou. Enjoy your food
supplied by the Borlabs Cookie
Hi! The only idea that comes to my head is to do without meat, fishless. You can be added more vegetables like the eggplant and flavor it all with the Screws. I don't know!
Hello Viliane! Do you have any ideas to replace fish/meat to create a vegetarian version?
Thank you so much !!