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Sauce bawin (cassava leaf stew): photo of the dish
Illustrative photo: Grandh2 — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sauces & basics

Sauce bawin (cassava leaf stew)

An Ivorian sauce made from pounded cassava leaves, slowly cooked with red palm oil, spices and smoked fish. Its texture is smooth and green, and it traditionally accompanies foutou or rice.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

Base

Spices & seasoning

Optional extras

On the side

Instructions

  1. Wash the cassava leaves and pound them finely in a mortar, or blend them with a little water until you have a green paste.
  2. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chili, then fry them in hot palm oil for 5 minutes over medium heat.
  3. Add the diced tomato and let it melt down for 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the pounded leaves and mix well with the oil.
  5. Add the crumbled smoked fish, the water and the optional stock cube, then season.
  6. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sauce thickens and the oil rises to the surface.
  7. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot with foutou or rice.

Variations and tips

Spinach version. If you can't find cassava leaves, use fresh spinach; the sauce will be less bitter but just as tasty.

Making it with what's available. Frozen cassava leaves and red palm oil can be found in African grocery stores. Otherwise, sunflower oil gives a less authentic taste but still works.

More ideas

Kédjénou1 h 35 · 4 serv.Foutou banane50 min · 4 serv. · budget-friendlyFish kedjenou (kédjénou de poisson)1 h 05 · 4 serv.Kédjénou de poulet aux aubergines (chicken and aubergine kedjenou)1 h 20 · 4 serv.Smoked fish in sauce55 min · 4 serv.Chombo sauce55 min · 4 serv.Sauce gombo au bœuf (okra beef sauce)1 h 55 · 4 serv.Aloko au poulet (aloko poulet braisé)50 min · 4 serv.

Original Ecomely recipe.