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Koki (Steamed Black-Eyed Pea and Palm Oil Cake)

Name: Koki (Steamed Black-Eyed Pea and Palm Oil Cake)
Prep time: 6 h 33 min
Total time: 6 h 33 min
Cuisine: Cameroonian
Ingredients: black-eyed peas — 500 g; water — 1000 g; unrefined red palm oil — 230 g; onion — 110 g; scotch bonnet chillies — 100 g; fresh spinach — 300 g; salt — 10 g; bouillon — 100 g; water — 250 g; banana leaves — 4 g; plantains — 300 g

Koki (Steamed Black-Eyed Pea and Palm Oil Cake) reads heat 4.4, salinity 3.9 and sweetness 3.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Cameroonian main, about 6 hr 33 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.2 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.3 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.4 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.3 / 10
Rich & Fat — 3.5 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Heat 4.4 · Salinity 3.9 · Sweetness 3.5 · Allium 3.4 · Umami 3.2 · Richness 3.1 · Fruity 2.9 · Earthy 2.2 · Nutty 1.4 · Sourness 1.2 · Bitterness 1.2 · Floral 1.1 · Herbaceous 1.0 · Citrus 0.6

What's in it (11)

black-eyed peas — 500 g
water — 1000 g
unrefined red palm oil — 230 g
onion — 110 g
scotch bonnet chillies — 100 g
fresh spinach — 300 g
salt — 10 g
bouillon — 100 g
water — 250 g
banana leaves — 4 g
plantains — 300 g

Time & effort: about 6 hr 33 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 89.9 kcal, 4.7 g protein, 1 g fat, 16.2 g carbs

How it's cooked (10 steps)

Soak the black-eyed peas in the warm water for 4 hours, or overnight.
Rub handfuls of the soaked peas between your palms so the skins slip off and float, pour them away with the water, and repeat until the peas are clean and pale. Skinning is unavoidable - the skins make koki gritty and grey.
Blend the skinned peas with the onion and scotch bonnet and just enough water to move the blades, to a thick coarse batter. It should be grainy, not smooth.
Warm the red palm oil gently with the hot water until it loosens and turns bright orange. Use unrefined red palm oil; refined oil will give you a pale, flat koki.
Beat the warm oil into the batter a little at a time for 10 minutes until the mixture lightens in colour and increases in volume. This beating is what makes koki set light rather than dense.
Fold through the chopped greens and season with the salt and crumbled stock cube.
Wilt the banana leaves over a flame until they turn glossy and pliable, then spoon about 250 ml of batter onto each, fold into a parcel and tie.
Steam the parcels 90 minutes over medium heat, topping up the water, until a knife comes out clean.
Boil the plantains 20 minutes and serve them alongside.
Substitutions: huckleberry leaves can stand in for the fresh spinach.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Quesadillas con Flor de Calabaza — Mexican
Accara with Tapalapa and Pepper Sauce — Gambian
Papadzules — Mexican · Yucatán
Caribbean Pepper Pot Soup — Caribbean
Kedjenou (Sealed-Pot Chicken) — Ivorian

Keep reading: what heat, salinity, sweetness 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.