Cameroonian · main

Eru with Waterleaf and Garri

Eru with Waterleaf and Garri reads umami 7.2, richness 5.0 and salinity 4.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Cameroonian main, about 2 hr 22 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.2 · Richness 5.0 · Salinity 4.3 · Heat 4.1 · Smoke 3.9 · Marine & Briny 3.6 · Fruity 2.1 · Earthy 1.7 · Floral 1.0 · Sweetness 1.0 · Bitterness 0.8 · Sourness 0.7 · Funk & Ferment 0.6

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 22 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 32.8 kcal, 4.4 g protein, 1.3 g fat, 0.9 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Put the assorted beef and cow skin in a pot with the water and boil 90 minutes over medium heat until the kanda is gelatinous and the shin is tender. Cow skin takes far longer than the muscle meat, which is why it goes in first.
  2. Add the chopped waterleaf to the pot and cook 8 minutes uncovered - waterleaf releases a great deal of liquid, and that liquid is what will cook the eru, so do not add more water.
  3. Stir in the finely shredded eru and simmer 15 minutes. Eru is a tough, almost leathery forest leaf and must be sliced hair-fine; it does not soften the way spinach does and is not interchangeable with it.
  4. Add the smoked fish, ground crayfish and scotch bonnet and simmer 10 minutes.
  5. Pour in the unrefined red palm oil - the deep orange kind, not refined palm oil, which has neither the colour nor the grassy note - and simmer 12 minutes, stirring, until the oil is fully worked into the greens and the pot is glossy.
  6. Season with the stock cubes and salt.
  7. For the garri, pour the boiling water over the garri in a bowl, cover for 2 minutes, then work it with a wooden spoon into a smooth stiff eba and rest 5 minutes. Serve the eru alongside.

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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.