Ngai Ngai

What we know so far

Ngai ngai is the Lingala name for the leaves of the roselle hibiscus, the same sour plant that gives Sahelian bissap its red flowers, and it is one of Kinshasa's favourite sauces: the leaves are stripped from their stems, blanched in hot water until they change colour, and simmered in a tomato and onion base seasoned with garlic, celery, chive and a good pinch of nutmeg, with fried horse mackerel (tomson), mboto or fresh ngolo catfish laid in to finish. The sourness of the leaf against the fried fish is the taste people miss abroad. It came to the capital from Équateur province, is cooked slowly, in the old days in a clay pot, and is eaten with chikwangue, fufu or boiled plantain.

The draft was written from 3 published sources and holds 9 ingredients and 6 steps. It has never been cooked by anybody at AFN, which is why it is waiting.

What claiming it means

1. Cook it the way you actually make it. Change anything in our draft that is wrong, and most of it probably is.
2. Photograph your own, so the page carries a real picture instead of somebody else's.
3. Send it in. An editor reads it, and it publishes with your name on it and a link to your profile.

See every dish waiting