How to cook Nkui from Cameroon?
Nkui is a popular traditional dish from West Cameroon. It is a sticky soup obtained from the sticky extraction of the bark of the Nkui plant also called Triumfetta Pentandra. Nkui is mostly cooked to feed mothers after birth.
Ingredients
- Dry Nkui plant (or fresh one)
- 4 tbsp Nkui spices
- 10 g limestone
- 1 habanero (hot) pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 l hot water
Instructions
- Wash the bark of the Nkui plant and place it into a big bowl or pot.
- Pour hot water on it and cover. Let it rest for about an hour.
- Meanwhile, put the Nkui spices powder into a small bowl, add salt, limestone, ground pepper and about 200ml of lukewarm water. Then stir the mixture until well combined.
- After the one hour resting time, crush the bark of the Nkui in its water with your hands continually until you obtain a sticky liquid. You can stop crushing when you realise that the bark is not sticky anymore.
- Throw the bark away, then clean the sticky liquid by removing all the bark's filaments to discard.
- Add the above spices mixture into the sticky liquid and beat thoroughly until well combined. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- The soup is ready and can be served with corn couscous as well as fried spinach.