Sierra Leonean · main

Cassava Leaf Plasas

Cassava Leaf Plasas reads umami 6.8, richness 5.3 and nutty 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Sierra Leonean main, about 2 hr 9 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.6 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 0.5 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 4.0 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.7 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.8 · Richness 5.3 · Nutty 4.9 · Salinity 4.1 · Heat 4.0 · Allium 3.7 · Smoke 3.5 · Marine & Briny 3.3 · Sweetness 2.1 · Earthy 2.0 · Fruity 2.0 · Bitterness 1.2 · Floral 1.0 · Warm Spice 0.8 · Funk & Ferment 0.6 · Herbaceous 0.5 · Sourness 0.5

What's in it (14)

• cassava leaves — 700 g
• unrefined red palm oil — 166 g
• boneless beef chuck — 500 g
• smoked fish — 200 g
• stockfish — 150 g
• onion — 180 g
• garlic — 12 g
• scotch bonnet chillies — 300 g
• peanut butter — 120 g
• crayfish — 30 g
• water — 700 g
• salt — 10 g
• bouillon — 4 g
• white rice — 400 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 9 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 99.2 kcal, 4.6 g protein, 4.3 g fat, 10.6 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Put the beef in a heavy pot with the onion, garlic, salt, seasoning cube and 400 ml of the water. Cover and simmer 40 minutes until the meat is tender.
2. Add the palm oil and stir for 2 minutes until it melts into the pot and stains everything orange-red. Buy pounded cassava leaves, not whole ones you intend to blend: pounding ruptures the fibre in a way a blender does not, and it is what gives plasas its texture.
3. Add the cassava leaves and the remaining 300 ml water, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cassava leaf needs this long both for texture and because prolonged cooking is what breaks down the cyanogenic compounds in the raw leaf. Do not shorten it.
4. Add the smoked fish, the stockfish, the chopped chillies and the crayfish and cook 15 minutes.
5. Loosen the groundnut paste with a ladleful of the pot liquor, 2 minutes, then stir it through.
6. Simmer a final 15 minutes, until the stew is dark, thick and a clear red oil floats on the surface.
7. Serve with plenty of steamed rice.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Granat Sup (Groundnut Stew with Chicken) — Sierra Leonean
• Kontomire Stew (Palava Sauce) — Ghanaian
• Egusi Soup — Nigerian
• Nkatenkwan (Groundnut Soup) with Fufu — Ghanaian
• Ndole — Cameroonian

Keep reading: what umami, richness, nutty 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.