Frying • Simmering and Stewing • baking soda • beef (stew meat) • beef broth or beef stock • bouillon cube • cayenne pepper or red pepper • chile pepper • egusi (egusi seed) • fish (dried or salted or smoked) • greens • oil (red palm oil) • onion • oriri • peanut butter • prawns or shrimp (dried prawns or dried shrimp) • salt • sweet red pepper (bell pepper) • Gambia • Sierra Leone
Plasas
Plasas is a “sauce” always made with some sort of greens, meat and dried fish, thickened with egusi or peanut butter, and served with a starchy side-dish. An astounding variety of greens (i.e., leaf vegetables that must be cooked) can be used in Plasas and similar soups and stews. Plasas is most often found in Gambia and Sierra Leone, where it may be another way of saying Palava Sauce or Palaver Sauce.
Plasas Recipe
Plasas is a "sauce" always made with greens, meat and dried fish, thickened with egusi or peanut butter.
Ingredients
½ cup red palm oil or other cooking oil
1 lb beef, or any stew meat, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 chile pepper (or green or red sweet bell pepper), chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 bouillon cubes or beef broth cubes (or oriri, see below)
2 ½ lbs greens (spinach, collards, kale, turnip greens are good, in Africa bitterleaf, bologie, okra leaves, sweet potato leaves, or sorrel leaves are often used), cleaned, washed, and shredded (cassava leaves should be ground or pounded and blanched before use; collards and kale can be blanched)
1 piece dried, salted, or smoked fish, cleaned, rinsed, and cut into pieces
½ cup dried shrimp (optional)
½ cup egusi seeds, roasted and ground — or — peanut butter (natural, unsweetened)
cayenne pepper or red pepper (to taste)
baking soda or salt (to taste)
Instructions
1
Heat the oil in a large pot. Fry the meat in the oil for a few minutes.
2
Add the chile pepper (or bell pepper), onions, beef broth cube, and a cup or two of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
3
Add the greens, cover, and cook until they are tender. (Spinach will cook quickly, in 10 to 15 minutes; the other greens will take an hour or longer.)
4
When the greens are tender and the meat is fully cooked: add the dried fish and dried shrimp. In a cup or small bowl, combine the egusi (or peanut butter) with hot water (or liquid from the cooking pot), stir until smooth, then add to the greens and meat. Simmer for ten minutes more.
Ingredients
½ cup red palm oil or other cooking oil
1 lb beef, or any stew meat, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 chile pepper (or green or red sweet bell pepper), chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 bouillon cubes or beef broth cubes (or oriri, see below)
2 ½ lbs greens (spinach, collards, kale, turnip greens are good, in Africa bitterleaf, bologie, okra leaves, sweet potato leaves, or sorrel leaves are often used), cleaned, washed, and shredded (cassava leaves should be ground or pounded and blanched before use; collards and kale can be blanched)
1 piece dried, salted, or smoked fish, cleaned, rinsed, and cut into pieces
½ cup dried shrimp (optional)
½ cup egusi seeds, roasted and ground — or — peanut butter (natural, unsweetened)
cayenne pepper or red pepper (to taste)
baking soda or salt (to taste)
Directions
1
Heat the oil in a large pot. Fry the meat in the oil for a few minutes.
2
Add the chile pepper (or bell pepper), onions, beef broth cube, and a cup or two of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
3
Add the greens, cover, and cook until they are tender. (Spinach will cook quickly, in 10 to 15 minutes; the other greens will take an hour or longer.)
4
When the greens are tender and the meat is fully cooked: add the dried fish and dried shrimp. In a cup or small bowl, combine the egusi (or peanut butter) with hot water (or liquid from the cooking pot), stir until smooth, then add to the greens and meat. Simmer for ten minutes more.
Ogiri is a seasoning derived from the fermented (?) seeds of the African locust tree or perhaps from fermented sesame seeds (?), it is used in soups and stews in Western Africa. It may be available in African import grocery stores.
Baking soda gives a salty flavor to African soups and sauces that resembles traditional vegetable salts and potash. Centuries ago many African people could only obtain salt from the bark of certain trees and the leaves of certain plants; potash was also used as a salt substitute. The use of bark and leaf salt and potash in cooking began in antiquity and was common until the 20th century when ordinary table salt became widely available throughout Africa.
Egusi is flour ground from the roasted seeds of a species of Cucurbitaceae (which includes gourds, melons, pumpkins, and squashes, many of which are native to Africa). Look for egusi (also called agusi, agushi, egushi) in African or International grocery stores. Ground roasted pumpkin seeds can be substituted, these are also called Pepitas and are available in Latin American grocery stores. Ground roasted sesame seeds might also be used.