Akume and Ademe Sauce Recipe
Aperçu
Akume (also written Akple) is the Ewe corn dough swallow from the Volta Region of Ghana, served with Ademe, a rich, slippery okra sauce cooked with smoked fish, palm oil, and tomatoes. Together they form one of the most complete and culturally significant meals in Ewe culinary tradition. Akume is made by cooking corn flour in boiling water and stirring vigorously until a smooth, firm dough forms, similar in technique to pounded yam or eba. The Ademe sauce is what makes the combination exceptional: okra cooked down with smoked fish and palm oil into a thick, draw-textured sauce that coats the corn dough perfectly. It is a meal that tastes of the Volta Region, earthy, smoky, and deeply satisfying.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Akume and Ademe Sauce is central to the food culture of the Ewe people of the Volta Region in eastern Ghana and extends into Togo and Benin. Corn (maize) dough preparations are found across West Africa, but the Ewe version with its specific pairing with ademe okra sauce represents a distinct culinary tradition that has been maintained for generations in the communities along the Volta River.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and place on a stove.
- 2
Gradually stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes firm and slightly grey.
- 3
Parboil the meat with onion, add stock cube and salt.
- 4
Add a little water in a pot or saucepan and bring to a boil.
- 5
Add fish and onion, and allow it to boil for about 4 minutes.
- 6
Add smoked fish, crab and the greens.
- 7
Season with salt to taste, add pepper and palm oil.
- 8
Cook for about 20minutes.
- 9
Serve with the Akume
Avis
6 avis
Boiled 500g of cow tripe for about an hour before adding to the sauce. Had to guess the dough proportions a bit, but stirring continuously with the wooden spoon until it went pale grey worked like a charm. Absolutely lekker with the salted fish flavour coming through.
Sipho, that continuous stirring to get the dough right is no be small thing o, your arm must have pained you! But you got that pale grey texture spot on. Tripe absorbing that salted fish flavour in the ademe sauce is top tier sha.
Got halal goat tripe from the Somali meat shop near me in Minneapolis. The akume turned out good but my arm almost broke stirring that cassava and corn dough mixture till grey! Quick question abeg, do you add the palm oil before or after the salted fish boils for 4 minutes? The order in the steps was a bit confusing sha.
Ewe people will tell you ademe sauce needs that slight sliminess from the fresh leaves paa. Chale, using collard greens is ok if you can't find ademe, but you must chop it very fine. My grandmama always used two parts cassava dough to one part maize dough so the akume turns out nice and grey without getting too stiff oo.
Finding fermented cassava dough here in Atlanta was no be small thing o, had to drive down to the African market in Decatur. I couldn't get ademe leaves so I used chopped collard greens like suggested. That goat tripe combined with the palm oil and salted fish gave it the exact aroma from back home. E sweet sha.
herh the taste is fine oo but 4 minutes boiling for the fish and onions was not enough at all. My salted fish was still way too hard and made the whole ademe sauce too salty because the salt didnt render out into the pot properly. Next time I will boil the fish first before adding the palm oil.