Congolese · main

Pondu (Saka-Saka)

Pondu (Saka-Saka) reads umami 5.9, salinity 4.4 and heat 4.0 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Congolese main, about 2 hr 40 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.9 · Salinity 4.4 · Heat 4.0 · Allium 3.9 · Richness 3.9 · Marine & Briny 3.5 · Smoke 3.3 · Fruity 2.4 · Sweetness 2.0 · Sourness 1.8 · Herbaceous 1.3 · Earthy 1.3 · Bitterness 1.3 · Floral 1.0 · Warm Spice 0.8

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 40 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 13.5 kcal, 1 g protein, 0.4 g fat, 1.5 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Pound the cassava leaves in a wooden mortar until they are reduced to a fine dark pulp - 20 minutes of steady work, or use a meat grinder.
  2. Cover with the water, bring to the boil and cook hard 75 minutes. Cassava leaves must be pounded and boiled thoroughly before eating; the long cook is not optional and not a matter of taste.
  3. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes and leeks and simmer 20 minutes.
  4. Stir in the smoked fish and dried shrimp and simmer 20 minutes more, letting the smoke work into the greens.
  5. Pour in the unrefined red palm oil and simmer 25 minutes over low heat, uncovered, stirring now and then, until the pondu is dark, thick and slicked with orange oil. Refined palm oil will not do this - the colour and the grassy, slightly sweet note come from the unrefined kind.
  6. Season with the scotch bonnet, salt and crumbled stock cube. Serve with chikwanga, fufu or rice.
  7. Substitutions: catfish can stand in for the smoked mackerel.

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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.