Ivorian · main

Sauce Graine (Palm Nut Sauce with Beef and Crab)

Sauce Graine (Palm Nut Sauce with Beef and Crab) reads umami 6.8, richness 5.4 and marine & briny 4.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Ivorian main, about 1 hr 57 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.7 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.8 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.9 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.5 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.5 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.8 · Richness 5.4 · Marine & Briny 4.1 · Salinity 3.9 · Allium 3.9 · Heat 3.6 · Smoke 3.3 · Earthy 2.5 · Fruity 2.2 · Warm Spice 1.9 · Sweetness 1.9 · Sourness 1.6 · Bitterness 1.4 · Herbaceous 1.1 · Floral 0.9 · Citrus 0.6

What's in it (15)

• tinned palm fruit pulp — 800 g
• boneless beef chuck — 600 g
• smoked fish — 300 g
• crabs — 200 g
• onion — 180 g
• tomatoes — 300 g
• scotch bonnet chillies — 200 g
• garlic — 12 g
• fresh ginger — 20 g
• okra — 600 g
• eggplant — 200 g
• water — 1000 g
• salt — 10 g
• bouillon — 4 g
• white rice — 400 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 57 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 70.3 kcal, 4.1 g protein, 2.3 g fat, 8.5 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Put the beef in a pot with half the onion, the garlic, the ginger, the salt and 500 ml of the water. Cover and simmer 40 minutes until the meat is nearly tender.
2. Whisk the palm fruit pulp with the remaining 500 ml water until smooth, about 3 minutes, and pour it into the pot. Use the tinned pulp, not palm oil: this sauce is built from the whole fruit, and oil alone gives colour without body.
3. Simmer uncovered 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a bright orange oil rises and pools on the surface.
4. Skim off about half of that oil, 2 minutes, or the finished sauce will be heavy.
5. Blend the tomatoes, the remaining onion and the chillies smooth, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the blend to the pot and simmer 15 minutes.
7. Add the smoked fish, the crab, the aubergine, the okra and the crumbled stock cube and simmer 15 minutes more, until the crab is bright and the okra tender but still green.
8. Serve over steamed rice.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Abenkwan (Palm Nut Soup) — Ghanaian
• Pondu (Saka-Saka) — Congolese
• Shrimp Etouffee — Cajun/Creole · Cajun
• One-Pot Jambalaya — Cajun/Creole · Cajun
• Jambalaya — Cajun/Creole

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