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Sekai Gohan

Plasas: Gambian Sweet Potato Leaf Stew with Palm Oil

Deep green plasas served with white rice, red palm oil glistening on the surface, a Gambian home dish
Steps with photos

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role
Sweet potato leaves (potato leaves) as needed The body of the stew; chopped and washed
Meat (beef works well) as needed Steamed first; gives the pot its savory base
Water a little For steaming the meat
Peanut powder, unsweetened as needed Thickens and binds the leaves and liquid
Bitter tomato (jahatu) as needed Bitter accent
Hot pepper to taste Heat; part goes into the pot, part into the pounded paste
Locust beans a little Fermented depth in the pounded paste
Spring onion as needed Fresh aroma in the pounded paste
Smoked stingray fish as needed Smoke and savory depth while the pot reduces
Smoked fish as needed Smoke and saltiness at the finish
Red palm oil as needed Color and the signature aroma
Seasoning cube to taste Salt and stock flavor at the finish
Salt to taste Final seasoning
Cooked white rice as needed To serve

Steps

  1. 1Wash and steam the meat

    Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and wash it under cold running water. Put it in the heavy pot with a little water, cover, and set it over gentle heat. Let it steam in its own juices and that small amount of water. It is ready for the leaves when steam escapes steadily from under the lid and the outside of the meat has turned from red to grey-brown.

  2. 2Chop and wash the leaves

    While the meat steams, cut the sweet potato leaves finely on a board. Put them in a large bowl of cold water, swish them with your hands, and lift them out into a colander. Repeat with fresh water until no grit settles at the bottom of the bowl. They are ready when the last rinse water stays clear and the leaves look bright and clean.

  3. 3Add the leaves to the steaming meat

    Lift the lid and tip the chopped leaves straight onto the meat while the pot is still steaming. Keep the meat and its liquid in the pot. Turn the leaves over with a wooden spoon so the ones at the top reach the heat. Move on when the heap has collapsed into the pot and the leaves have turned a deeper, darker green.

  4. 4Add peanut powder, bitter tomato and hot pepper

    Loosen the peanut powder with a ladle of liquid from the pot in a small bowl. Stir it into the leaves with the bitter tomato and part of the hot pepper. Keep the pot cooking and stir from the bottom now and then so the peanut does not catch. The sauce is on its way when the clear green liquid turns cloudy and pale and begins to cling to the spoon.

    Loosen the peanut first

    Dry peanut powder dropped straight into the pot forms lumps that stay floury inside. Stirring it smooth with a little hot liquid from the pot first lets it melt evenly into the leaves.

  5. 5Pound the pepper paste

    While the pot cooks, put the remaining hot pepper, the locust beans and the spring onion in a mortar. Pound until everything breaks down and gathers into one coarse paste. A blender does the same job; pulse it rather than running it smooth. The paste is ready when it is green-brown, slightly wet, and smells sharp and fermented.

  6. 6Add the smoked stingray

    Rinse the smoked stingray under running water and break it into pieces. Add it to the pot and stir it through the leaves. Let the pot keep cooking so the liquid reduces around the fish. Move on when the smell of smoke rises with the steam and the stew looks glossy rather than watery.

  7. 7Stir in the paste when the water has gone

    Keep cooking until the water in the pot has evaporated. Scrape the pounded paste into the pot and stir it through evenly. Let it cook for a few minutes. It is right when the raw bite of the spring onion has softened in the aroma and a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a line that slowly closes.

    Wait for the water to go

    The paste goes in only after the liquid has cooked away. Added to a watery pot, its sharp, fermented flavor is diluted and the sauce stays thin.

  8. 8Finish with palm oil, smoked fish and seasoning

    Pour in the red palm oil, then add the smoked fish, broken into flakes, and the seasoning cube. Stir once and taste before adding any salt, then season with salt to taste. It is done when an orange-red sheen spreads across the surface and the oil no longer looks separate from the leaves; spoon it over hot white rice.

    Salt goes last for a reason

    Smoked fish, smoked stingray and the seasoning cube all bring salt. Tasting after they are in, and before the salt, keeps the pot from tipping over.