Achu Soup (Cameroonian Yellow Soup)
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The Tale of Achu Soup (Cameroonian Yellow Soup)
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Achu, pounded cocoyam and unripe banana served with a palm-oil-based yellow soup, is the traditional dish of the Bamenda region's Tikar and Ngemba peoples in Cameroon's Northwest, with roots reaching the historic Bamileke kingdoms of the west. Known as "food for kings," it's traditionally prepared when visiting a chief, its yellow color coming from potash mixed into the palm oil.
Ingredients
Scale:· 6 servings
- 8 cocoyams (taro), peeled
- 2 lb assorted meats and tripe, cooked and cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup palm oil, warmed and infused with achu spice (limbum)
- 2 tbsp potash (kanwa) dissolved in water
- 2 cups meat stock
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- 1Boil the cocoyams until very soft, about 30-40 minutes, then mash and pound until smooth and stretchy, forming achu.
- 2Warm the palm oil gently with limbum spice until fragrant and deep orange-yellow.
- 3Whisk the dissolved potash water into the warm palm oil; it will thicken and turn creamy.
- 4Stir in the meat stock gradually to reach a smooth, pourable sauce consistency.
- 5Add the cooked assorted meats to the yellow sauce and simmer 10 minutes to heat through.
- 6Season with salt and mound the pounded cocoyam achu in a bowl.
- 7Ladle the yellow soup and meats generously over the achu to serve.
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