Mozambican · main

Matapa

Matapa reads umami 5.8, marine & briny 5.4 and richness 5.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mozambican main, about 2 hr 29 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.8 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.2 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 0.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.7 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.1 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.8 · Marine & Briny 5.4 · Richness 5.3 · Nutty 4.5 · Salinity 4.3 · Allium 3.7 · Sweetness 3.6 · Heat 2.8 · Fruity 2.0 · Floral 1.9 · Earthy 1.6 · Bitterness 1.0 · Warm Spice 0.7 · Sourness 0.6 · Citrus 0.5

What's in it (13)

• cassava leaves — 1000 g
• water — 2000 g
• peanuts — 150 g
• garlic — 12 g
• onion — 110 g
• coconut milk — 368 g
• coconut milk — 230 g
• prawns — 300 g
• crab meat — 200 g
• sunflower oil — 41 g
• salt — 10 g
• red piri-piri chilli — 100 g
• white rice — 400 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 29 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 79.4 kcal, 3.2 g protein, 4.1 g fat, 8 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. Pound the cassava leaves with the garlic in a wooden mortar until they break down to a coarse green pulp. This is the work of the dish and cannot be skipped.
2. Cover the pounded leaves with the water and boil hard for 45 minutes. Cassava leaves must be pounded and thoroughly boiled before eating - the long cook is a safety step, not a texture preference.
3. Grind the peanuts to a coarse meal in the same mortar or a blender.
4. In a wide pot heat the oil and cook the onion 8 minutes over medium heat until soft.
5. Add the drained boiled leaves and the thin coconut milk and simmer 30 minutes over low heat, stirring often.
6. Stir in the ground peanuts and simmer a further 15 minutes - the sauce will thicken and go dull green and glossy.
7. Add the prawns and crab meat and cook 8 minutes, just until the prawns turn opaque.
8. Pour in the thick coconut milk and let it heat through for 5 minutes without boiling hard, so it does not split. Season with salt and the chopped piri-piri.
9. Boil the rice 18 minutes and serve the matapa over it.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Vatapa — Brazilian
• Crab and Callaloo (Dasheen Leaf Soup with Blue Crab) — Trinidadian
• Nkatenkwan (Groundnut Soup) with Fufu — Ghanaian
• Ndole — Cameroonian
• Shrimp and Okra Purloo — Southern · Lowcountry

Keep reading: what umami, marine & briny, richness 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.