Meat-heavy dishes are often considered to be American anomalies. Americans adore barbecues and potlucks and hearty stews, and the celebration of any occasion is usually met with some type of time-intensive grilling or roasting. However, Cameroonian ndole is absolutely no different. This traditional dish contains a few types of proteins, all of them interchangeable and customizable based on whose recipe one is reading. Sometimes made from peanuts, shrimp, stockfish, beef, and spinach, ndole is a wonderfully delicious example of the hearty, earthy nature of Cameroonian cuisine.

 

 

 

To make ndole, one begins with a half pound of beef in a shallow pan with some water, boiling away until the protein is fully cooked through. I used ground beef, but the author of African Bites, Imma, uses larger chunks. As long as the flavor and texture of the meat comes through, the stew will be heavenly! Add a few chopped onions and two tablespoons of bullion to season. Imma’s recipe calls for one onion, but I used two in the end, since almost every piece of the recipe requires onions before it is incorporated with the rest of the dish. Another helpful tip: I pre-chopped my two onions so I could easily pull a few from a bowl every time I needed to add them in. (Truth be told, I also wore my partner’s chemistry goggles whilst I worked with all these onions. The onions were quite pungent, and this recipe requires full concentration. No room for constant eye-wiping.

 

Next, in a deeper pot, boil a half pound of stockfish in several cups of water and salt. Add the contents of the shallower pan to the larger pot of stockfish. For reference, stockfish is a dried fish, like cod, that adds a delicious meaty taste, but it usually requires an overnight soak to be viable in any recipe. I left out this step, but I added a few cups of water to my pan of ground beef to replace the water that the stockfish would have boiled in.

 

Boil a cup of raw, unshelled peanuts in a pan for about 10 minutes with some oil or water, then blend in a food processor until smooth. Add to the mixture of meat.

Pulse one onion and four cloves of garlic (yes, that’s a lot) in a food processor for a minute or so, and then add this mixture to the pot. At this point, the kitchen should smell meaty and garlicky and  delicious, but refuse your strong urge to taste what’s in the pot.

Yes, everything looks incredible, but what dish would be complete without three-fourths of a cup of dried shrimp? 

Imma’s recipe calls for dried crayfish, but I had to do some more substituting here. I bought these tiny dried shrimp from the freezer section of Mr. Chen’s, but I knew I would have to tackle grinding them myself to make a paste for the stew. I attempted to use my gorgeous marble mortar and pestle, but honestly, it’s too beautiful to do a good job of anything. I had to return to my trusty food processor, which blended the rather potent shrimp perfectly, and I added the concoction to my pot.

 

 

 

The last process before garnishing is adding bitter-leaves. I used spinach, which is essentially very similar, but they both have a dark green leafiness that really enhances the meatiness of the soup. Add eight ounces of the vegetable, which for me was a whole organic family-sized container. Now, I’ll warn you.

 

It’s a lot of spinach. It’s more than a lot. It takes a while to mix in the veggies to such a thick pot of meat, but they will wilt after several minutes and allow you to incorporate them easier. They definitely smell amazing.

It’s almost time to eat! I didn’t take this step when cooking the recipe for the first time, but when I made leftovers the next day, I sautéed a few shrimp to add on top of the stew. I purchased frozen, pre-cooked shrimp from South’s Finest Meats, but they were just as delicious as fresh shrimp.

Once my shrimp were thoroughly cooked on the stove, I stuffed my face with ndole. I didn’t even make a plate, because eating it right out of the pan was so satisfying. Nothing has ever been so delightful. It was meaty, filling, and deliciously pungent, but the best part was that I had created the concoction from scratch. The whole process took hours, but let’s be honest. Nothing ever tastes good when it doesn’t require three hours, dried shrimp, and a pair of lab goggles.

 

 

 

Works Referenced

Imma. “21 Traditional Cameroonian Foods to Feed Your Soul.” Immaculate Bites.