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Banku with Grilled Tilapia and Pepper Sauce

Name: Banku with Grilled Tilapia and Pepper Sauce
Prep time: 1 h 3 min
Total time: 1 h 33 min
Cuisine: Ghanaian
Ingredients: fermented white corn dough — 500 g; fermented cassava dough — 170 g; water — 900 g; salt — 7 g; tilapia — 1000 g; peanut oil — 41 g; fresh ginger — 40 g; garlic — 18 g; scotch bonnet chillies — 400 g; tomatoes — 300 g; red onion — 150 g; crayfish — 15 g; lime juice — 30 g

Banku with Grilled Tilapia and Pepper Sauce reads sourness 5.5, citrus 5.4 and heat 5.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Ghanaian main, about 1 hr 33 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.2 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.3 / 10
Sour & Bright — 7.2 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 0.9 / 10
Rich & Fat — 3.9 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 5.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sourness 5.5 · Citrus 5.4 · Heat 5.1 · Allium 4.5 · Salinity 4.4 · Marine & Briny 3.8 · Umami 3.8 · Richness 3.1 · Fruity 2.8 · Nutty 2.7 · Warm Spice 2.4 · Sweetness 1.6 · Floral 1.2 · Herbaceous 1.1 · Bitterness 0.7 · Earthy 0.5

What's in it (13)

fermented white corn dough — 500 g
fermented cassava dough — 170 g
water — 900 g
salt — 7 g
tilapia — 1000 g
peanut oil — 41 g
fresh ginger — 40 g
garlic — 18 g
scotch bonnet chillies — 400 g
tomatoes — 300 g
red onion — 150 g
crayfish — 15 g
lime juice — 30 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 33 min (1 hr 3 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 32.7 kcal, 5.8 g protein, 0.5 g fat, 1.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

Pound half the ginger, half the garlic, one scotch bonnet and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a mortar, then work in 1 tablespoon of the oil and the lime juice. Rub this paste into the tilapia, into the slashes and through the cavity, and leave 30 minutes.
Grill the fish over medium charcoal, or under a hot broiler, 8 to 10 minutes a side, basting once with a little more oil, until the skin blisters and the flesh at the backbone is opaque.
For the pepper sauce, char the tomatoes, the onion and the remaining chillies whole, directly over the coals or in a dry pan over high heat, 8 to 10 minutes, turning, until blistered and blackened in places.
Grind the charred vegetables in an asanka or a mortar with the remaining ginger and garlic, the crayfish and 1/2 teaspoon salt, about 5 minutes, into a loose, coarse sauce. Do not put it in a blender; the slightly rough texture is part of the dish.
For the banku, break both doughs into a heavy pot, pour in the water and the remaining salt, and whisk until there are no lumps.
Set the pot over medium heat and stir continuously with a flat wooden spatula, pressing the mixture against the side of the pot. It begins to thicken after about 8 minutes; keep folding and pressing for 20 to 25 minutes in all, lowering the heat if it catches, until the banku is stiff and glossy, pulls cleanly away from the pot and has lost its raw sourness.
Wet your hands, mould the banku into smooth balls, and serve hot with the grilled fish and the pepper sauce.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Ga Kenkey with Fried Fish and Shito — Ghanaian
Attiéké with Grilled Tilapia — Ivorian
Piri-Piri Prawns — Mozambican
Liboke ya Mbisi (Fish in Banana Leaves) — Congolese
Cornmeal-Crusted Fried Catfish — Southern

Keep reading: what sourness, citrus, heat mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.