Recettes

Asun (Peppered Goat Meat)

Asun is smoked or roasted goat meat tossed through a fierce pepper and onion mix, and it is one of the fixtures of the Nigerian owambe, the large Yoruba party that runs on food and music. It arrives as part of the small chops circuit, alongside puff puff and peppered snails, and it disappears fast. Goat is the whole point. Yoruba speakers call it ogunfe, and it carries a stronger, more mineral flavour than beef that stands up to the quantity of scotch bonnet involved. The meat is simmered until tender before it ever meets fire, then roasted or grilled to dry the surface and pick up smoke, and only then does it go into the pepper mix. Skipping the first stage is the most common way it goes wrong, since goat that has not been softened stays tough no matter how long it spends in the pan. Sliced onions and bell peppers go in for sweetness against the heat rather than for bulk. Whether asun is a starter or something else is a matter people disagree about: the source archive files it under both appetizer and dessert, and Nigerians treat it as a small chop, a side to jollof rice, or a main course with plantain, depending entirely on the occasion.

★★★★★Les mieux notées

1 hr 15 minMediumNigeria

Recette de Debby · Africook

Nigerian Yam Brownie

This is a brownie made with mashed yam in place of much of the flour, and it is a deliberate fusion rather than a traditional dish. The contributor presents it as exactly that: a twist on a familiar dessert using a Nigerian staple. Yam is not a substitute ingredient in Nigeria; it is a central one, eaten pounded, fried, roasted and in porridge, and it carries cultural weight that potatoes do not. Using it in a brownie is a contemporary move, and it works on the same principle as sweet potato or black bean brownies: the starch gives body and moisture while the cocoa carries the flavour. What results is denser and fudgier than a flour brownie, with an earthy background note from the yam. Two cups of mashed yam against half a cup of flour is a high ratio, so the texture is closer to a baked pudding than a cakey brownie. There is no tradition behind it and this entry does not invent one. It belongs to the growing body of Nigerian home baking that treats local staples as ingredients for Western formats, alongside plantain cakes and yam flour breads.

★★★★★Les mieux notées

50 minEasyNigeria · African

Recette de Laila · Africook

Kilishi Noodles

Kilishi noodles is a modern Nigerian dish, instant noodles cooked with kilishi, the northern Nigerian beef jerky, along with peppers, carrots and green beans. Kilishi is the part with the history. It is northern Nigeria's dried spiced beef, most closely associated with Bauchi State but made and eaten across the country. Beef is sliced extremely thin, dried, then coated in a paste built on groundnut, spices and pepper, dried again and finally roasted over fire. The result keeps for a long time without refrigeration, which is the whole reason the technique exists, and it is why kilishi has traditionally been sold wrapped in brown paper or newspaper, which keeps moisture out and mould from forming. That dryness is also what governs this recipe. Kilishi is genuinely hard to chew straight from the pack, so the first step is softening it in water before anything else happens. Skipping it produces a dish nobody enjoys. The noodles themselves are the modern half. Instant noodles have become thoroughly embedded in Nigerian home cooking, and pairing them with kilishi is exactly the kind of adaptation that produces new everyday dishes: something imported and cheap, cooked with something local and prized. **Note:** this recipe sits under the dessert category on the site. It is not a dessert.

EasyNigeria

Recette de Maryam · Africook