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Poisson au Fúmbwa (Fish with Fumbwa)

Poisson au Fúmbwa (Fish with Fumbwa) is a traditional Central African Republic recipe for classic dish of fish with fuambwa leaves in a tomato and peanut butter base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Central African Republic version of: Fish with Fumbwa (Poisson au Fúmbwa).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

180 minutes

Total Time:

200 minutes

Serves:

4–6

Rating:

Tags : Chilli RecipesVegetable RecipesCentral-african-republic Recipes

Fúmbwa (from the Lingala language and also called Eru) is a popular vegetable collected in the wild throughout tropical Africa (they are distributed in the humid tropical forests from Nigeria through Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, DR of Congo to Angola). These are the leaves of Gnetum africanum (a relative of coniferous trees). The leaves are used as a vegetable and cooked like collard greens or spring greens. They are sold either fresh or dried.

Ingredients:

1 packet (200g) dry fúmbwa
200g peanut butter
1 smoked fish (traditionally pike or carp)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
400g tin of diced tomatoes
palm oil for frying
hot chilli powder, to taste
salt, to taste

Method:

Wash the fumbwa leaves and the smoked fish well, place both in a large bowl, cover with water and set aside to soak for 90 minutes.

After this time, drain the fumbwa.

Heat about 60ml palm oil in a pan. Wash and flake the smoked fish, flake the fish then add to the oil and fry gently for 15 minutes. Shred the fumbwa and add to the pan. Pour in enough water to cover all the ingredients then stir in the tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Bring the mixture to a simmer, then stir in the peanut butter. Continue cooking the mixture for 60 minutes, or until the fumbwa and the fish are tender. If desired, adjust the seasoning with salt and add hot chilli powder, to taste.

Serve hot, accompanied by fufu or semolina porridge.