Another ethnic dish from Cameroon. When people ask me about home I can’t wait to jump right in with the story telling. You mean home as in where I grew up or home as in my village? Where my grandma resides? They are as different as day and night, and that’s the beauty of home for me.
Well , home for this dish is my village, Lebialem Sub division, Bechati/ Folepi in Cameroon. Growing up in the city we rarely visited the village. During those holidays our parents decided it was time to pay the grandparents a visit, these “city kids” knew they were in for a treat. All meals prepped and I didn’t even have to do dishes? Count me in. Waking up to just “Conversations”, No city noise, no cars honking; just greeting in our dialect. Children running around, men and women returning home from hunting/ farming. Life was simple and peaceful. You can tell I miss home, that’s the inspiration behind this dish today. One of my favorites from grandma. Back then the fish came from the river literally a stone throw from our house, plantains from the farm. Unfortunately due to overfishing , today,  they source fish from outside vendors on special market days only. Regardless, this recipe lives on.
One can never exactly replicate grandma’s recipe, even my mother’s country fish will never taste as good as my grandma’s ( No offense ma). It’s a fact that cannot be argued. In fact, random story. My husband casually said ” Your mom’s koki beans tastes better”in front of the whole family during our Christmas meal a year back. Lol, of course! But since you enjoyed her’s so much you had to call me out, when next you want koki beans, do catch a flight to Canada love!
So back to this recipe, It calls for some ingredients you can only find at an African grocery store; Cameroonian grocery store to be specific. With the many tribes and different traditions in Cameroon I can’t guarantee your local Cameroonian restaurant will have this dish, but you might know someone , who knows someone that can let you sample this dish. It’s one uniquely African dish that will probably make you ask all the questions I ‘d love to answer and of course go for seconds!
I used trout but you can try any white fish. Its been prepared with salmon before but white fish works better and really soaks up the flavor from all the spices as it cooks. Also prefer whole fish, bones and all but you are more than welcome to use fillets.
Cameroon Njangsa Sauce
Spicy Njangsa Sauce with Trout and ripe plantains
Ingredients
- 1 pound Whole rainbow Trout Cleaned descaled and cut into four pieces
- 1/4 cup Njangsa
- 1/2 Tbsp Country Onions
- 1/4 tsp mbongo spice
- 1/2 medium Onions 1/4 sliced and 1/4 to be blended
- 1 small roma tomatoe
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 sprig Parsley
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- salt to taste
- Scallions for garnish
- 1 medium Habanero pepper
Instructions
- Descale fish, thoroughly rinse and cut as shown. Transfer to a medium sauce pan.
- Blend Njangsa, parsley, garlic, habanero, tomaotoe, onions with 1/2 cup of water until smooth and creamy.
- Add to sauce pan. Then add country onions, mbongo spice, salt to taste. Turn heat to medium and simmer for about 20-25 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add more water if too thick.
- Meanwhile, in a small fry pan, heat vegetable oil and fry remaining onions until it starts to brown. Transfer into sauce pan with fish and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
- Serve with plantains ( Or Rice, African Yams, Coco yams and more)
Notes
- Semi ripe plantains will cook quicker than green plantains. Depending on how ripe they are, you can cook for as little as 20 minutes. Wash and peel plantains before cooking so they are nice and soft. Some will boil without peeing; but not only does it take a little longer, they tend to be a little dry. If you insist on boiling without peeling, do wash thoroughly, trim ends and cut ( about 2 inch long) before boiling.
- You'll obviously need less water with semi-ripe to ripe plantains. If using green plantain, fill with water until plantains are completely covered.
You must be logged in to post a comment.