Creamy Samp
Overview
To make creamy samp, you cook quick cook samp in boiling water until it's soft and the water has gone. Then you stir in fried onion and mushroom, Aromat, mushroom soup powder mixed into milk, and grated mozzarella. Give it five minutes on a gentle simmer, season, and it's ready. So what is samp? It's dried maize kernels, stamped to crack the hulls and break the grain into coarse pieces. South Africans eat it where rice or mealie meal would go, and it keeps a chewy, grainy bite that neither of those has. Some cook it with beans as umngqusho, some cook it plain with a little seasoning, and some work meat through it. Quick cook samp needs no overnight soak and cooks in 30 to 50 minutes, so it fits a weeknight.
AFN Heritage Note
Samp is stamped maize, produced by pounding dried kernels to crack the hull, and is documented as a staple across southern Africa, most closely associated in Xhosa cooking with umngqusho, the preparation of samp with beans. Maize itself reached the region through Portuguese Atlantic trade from the 16th century.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Put the quick cook samp in a large deep pot, cover with the boiling water and cook over medium heat for 50 minutes.
- 2
In a separate pan, heat some cooking oil and add the onion.
- 3
Fry the onion until translucent, then add the mushrooms and fry until browned.
- 4
Once the samp is soft and the water has cooked away, add the mushroom mixture and mix well.
- 5
Add the aromat seasoning.
- 6
Mix the mushroom soup powder into the milk in a clean bowl, then pour it into the samp, followed by the cheese.
- 7
Simmer for 5 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.
- 8
Serve hot with any protein of your choice.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Tshego Stone- Conventional samp needs soaking overnight and around three hours of cooking. Quick cook samp is the product this recipe is built around, and substituting one for the other without adjusting the method will not work.
- Keep an eye on the liquid. Samp absorbs a great deal of water and a pot that runs dry will catch and scorch, which is not recoverable.
- Add the milk and cheese at the end and off a hard boil. High heat after the dairy goes in will split the sauce.
- Aromat is a South African seasoning blend. If it is unavailable, a mixture of salt, onion powder, garlic powder and a little MSG approximates it.
- The other standard preparation is umngqusho, samp cooked with sugar beans, which is a different and older dish rather than a variation on this one.
Questions cooks ask
What is samp?
Samp is dried maize kernels that have been stamped or pounded until the hull comes loose and the grain breaks into coarse pieces. It's coarser than mealie meal, which is ground to a flour and cooked into a smooth porridge, so samp stays as separate chewy grains and takes the place rice would on your plate. It's eaten right across southern Africa, and in Zambia the Lozi and Tonga people eat it with sugar and sour milk.
How do you cook creamy samp with cheese and milk?
Cook quick cook samp in boiling water until it's soft and the water has cooked away. Fry onion and then mushrooms in a separate pan, stir them into the samp with the Aromat, then add mushroom soup powder whisked into milk, followed by grated mozzarella. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper, and keep the heat gentle once the milk goes in so the sauce doesn't split.
How long does samp take to cook, and do you need to soak it?
It depends on which samp you buy. Conventional samp needs an overnight soak in cold water and then around three hours of cooking. Quick cook samp is processed so you don't need to soak it, and it takes 30 to 50 minutes; this recipe gives it 50. The packets can look alike, so check the label before you start.
Is creamy samp the same as samp and beans?
No. Samp and beans is umngqusho, samp cooked long and slow with sugar beans, and it's most closely tied to Xhosa cooking. It's the older and better known dish, usually made with onion and sometimes with meat or stock. Creamy samp is a separate, quicker dish finished with milk, cheese and mushroom. AFN has a separate samp and beans (umngqusho) recipe if that's the one you're after.
What can I use instead of Aromat in creamy samp?
Aromat is a South African seasoning blend. If you can't find it, a mix of salt, onion powder, garlic powder and a little MSG gets you close. Go easy on extra salt until you've tasted, because the soup powder and cheese are salty too.
What do you serve with creamy samp?
Serve it hot next to a stew or something off the braai. Samp goes well with beef, lamb or chicken, and it's sometimes served with AFN's chakalaka on the side.
Reviews
4 reviews
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Never cooked samp before and had to order the quick cook version online. The technique of mixing cream of mushroom soup powder with milk to make the sauce creamy was completely new to me, but it worked surprisingly well with the melted mozzarella. Served it alongside grilled pork chops for my family and everyone loved the texture.
50 minutes was not enough for 3 cups of water to cook away in my pot abeg, the samp was still swimming after an hour. I had to drain liquid out before adding the milk and soup powder or it would have turned into porridge soup. Taste was decent in the end but the cooking time is way off.
Made this yesterday for Sunday braai. Using the Knorr soup powder gives it that proper home taste, but 1 tablespoon of Aromat made it slightly too salty alongside the soup mix. Next time I'll cut the Aromat in half. Still very lekker and super creamy with the cheese.
Couldn't find quick cook samp anywhere here so I bought standard samp from an Afro-shop in Wedding and had to soak it overnight before cooking. The mushroom and soup powder combination surprised me sha, but e sweet o! Very hearty meal for this cold weather.