FabRecipe : "Nkui", A Sauce With Many Virtues

Nkui is a traditional dish of the Bamiléké ethnic group that is prepared especially for women who have   just given birth because of its high energy value.

Women must consume it for a maximum of 30 days and be fed by another specially selected person.

Nkui is said to make the mother's breast abundant and to facilitate its discharge. This dish is traditionally known for its effects on digestion. It is also said to stimulate the appetite, to stimulate galactorrhea, and also to treat malaria and colic.

It is also used in infant feeding and in the feeding of young children who are still unable to absorb coarse starchy foods. This dish is served to parents at the born house ceremony.

Nkui is also used in traditional medicine in Congo to stabilize blood pressure and in veterinary medicine in Burundi.

I. How To Cook Nkui?

Nkui is a sticky sauce made by grinding the bark of the Nkui plant in water. During its preparation, Nkui is seasoned with twelve local condiments: Ngachu'u, Lepka'ah, Diepse'eh, Zehfe, the bark of the lep, Susieu, the fruit of the lep, etc.

1. Nkui with Corn Couscous (Fufu Corn) recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Resting time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the Corn Couscous (Fufu Corn)

- Maize flour

- Water

For the Nkui soup

- Nkui stems (Triumfetta pentandra bark)

- Olom or Hiomi (bark of the garlic tree/scorodophloeus zenkeri)

- Mendak (seeds of Monodora myristica)

- Melam (small fruits related to pepper)

- Nsà nshu (small fruits related to pepper)

- Nsù'nflù (fragments of a greyish twisted root)

- Sùsùe (local aubergines)

- Tshùtshe (fruit of the Tetrapleura tetraptera)

- Sô (wild pepper)

- Tshii (small brown dried fruits)

- Nga'lomsi (Monodora myristica roots)

- Nga'nà, o fhuihu (small reddish roots)

- Lom nkak (Afrostyrax lepidophyllus)

- Soh (Capsicum frutescens)

- Ntshop (lye or ash vinegar)

- Rock salt

- Condiments (ngachu'u, lepka'ah, diepse'eh, zehfe, lep bark, sisieu, lep fruit)

- Salt

- Chilli pepper

Preparation

Corn Couscous (Fufu Corn):

1- Boil about 10 liters of water, sieve the maize flour by separating the bran from the fine flour, wash the bran.

2- Divide the quantity of boiling water in 2, let one half boil on fire and put the washed bran in it, stir continuously until obtaining a homogeneous mush, add the corn flour under a high fire and stir vigorously until obtaining a homogeneous paste, add a quantity of hot water and cover the pot, lower the fire.

Nkui Sauce:

1- Clean the stems of Nkui by removing their bark. Tie these stems in the shape of a bundle and soak them in a little hot water for about fifteen minutes. This is to facilitate the production of the sticky material.

2- In the meantime, crush the condiments, starting with the harder ones such as the bark of the garlic tree and the fruits, the grains of "Mendak" and "Tshùtshe" lightly flamed or roasted. to increase the aroma. The sticky matter of the "Nkui" sauce is obtained by rubbing together the Nkui rinds put beforehand to macerate.

3- This sticky material is transferred to another plate or into the pot used for cooking the corn couscous, the extraction continues until the desired amount is obtained, adding lukewarm or cold water if necessary. When the extraction is finished, the color of the sticky depends on the nature of the Nkui used.

4- In a pot and over a very low heat, the sticky material is beaten vigorously with the right hand for a while before adding, while continuing to beat the crushed condiments, then the ash vinegar and rock salt previously dissolved in a little water, until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.

NB

Served with  corn couscous (fufu corn), we eat the Nkui by hand. In fact, the sauce is so sticky that no utensil can catch it.