The word fufu is almost synonymous to some African countries. We love our fufu be it corn fufu, yam fufu or cassava fufu (water fufu). Fufu, foo foo or fou fou is a starchy side that is usually eaten with some sort of soup or vegetable. One of the common types of fufu is that made out of cassava. In Nigeria, it is called Cassava Fufu or Akpu. In Cameroon, it is called Water Fufu.
Water Fufu is made by fermenting some cassava, also known as yuca root. The fermented cassava is ground into a puree which is eventually cooked into delicious fufu.
This can be eaten with a number of soups like ogbono soup or okra soup. The most common way it is eaten in Cameroon is with this vegetable called eru. The combination of water fufu and eru is absolutely delicious!
In Nigeria, cassava fufu is eaten with egusi soup, bitter leaf soup, ogbono soup, and a host of other soups. I love it with Nigerian egusi soup!
So how does it taste? Cassava Fufu has a taste that is hard to describe. Let's just say it tastes like ground cassava (LOL, I'm trying!) It has a rubbery texture and when paired with vegetable, it is so good.
I served it here with Ndole because that's what I had at home (by the way, this combo is the truth!) I actually wanted to show you guys a picture of water fufu served with eru but I just couldn't resist eating all of the eru I had at home right after I finished making the fufu. Don't blame me - fufu and eru is just too good!
I made a video to show you guys how to make this fufu from scratch. Yep! You'll see me walk you through the entire process and share lots of tips on how to make your own Water Fufu. No matter where you are, as long as you can find cassava, you can make your own Cassava Fufu.
Watch how to make Water Fufu:
Recipe
How to Make Water Fufu from Scratch - Cassava Fufu
Ingredients
- 6 large tubers of cassava (yuca root)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda optional
Instructions
- Peel the cassava. Cut each tuber into 5 or 6 pieces then split each piece in the middle part where you can see the fibre. Use a knife to lift up the skin from the divided cassava then use your knife or hand to take off the whole skin.
- Wash the cassava thoroughly and place in a large container. Pour in water to completely cover the cassava then add in two teaspoons of baking soda. Cover the container and keep it to ferment in a warm corner for 3 - 5 days. To check if the cassava is well fermented, press with your fingers, if it is soft then it is okay. Note that all might not be very soft but if most are soft then you are good to go.
- Strain the fermented cassava to remove excess water. Then place in a blender or food processor and process into a puree. You may have to do this in two batches.
- Now remove any fibre you see in the puree. You can do this by either running your hand through the puree and picking out any fibre, or by adding water to the puree then passing it through a strainer. It is recommended that you use you hand if you intend on cooking the fufu right away.
- Pour the puree into a clean kitchen towel or cheese cloth the squeeze to remove excess water. If you added more water to enable you pass the fufu through a strainer, you may need to squeeze longer. Or tightly tie the kitchen cloth containing the puree and place in the kitchen sink with a heavy object on top to help push out the water. When the excess water is out, your fufu is ready to be cooked!
To cook the cassava fufu:
- Place the raw fufu in a pot then run through it with your hands to dissolve any excess lumps. Add a quarter cup of water and mix to form a paste.
- Place on medium high heat then cover and let it rest for two minutes. Begin stirring with a wooden spoon, mixing hard enough to dissolve the lumps that form as it cooks.
- Add water as needed (about 1 cup in total) while stirring to ensure that the fufu is not too strong. Please see video to see how the texture should be. Keep mixing on heat until the fufu moves from being bright white to an off-white colour. It is ready when it is an off-white colour.
- Turn off the heat then mold the fufu into lumps (shaped like small logs of wood or like balls) if you wish.
- Enjoy with any soup of choice! I love enjoying it with eru or ogbono soup.
Notes
Nutrition
Kwandah T says
Hmmm. So much work goes into making it oh. You know in pays, some people tie it in a sac(typically one which originally came with salt) when it becomes soft and put a "grinding stone" on it overnight to press(drain) the "water" from it na...hahaha. Even as modern as your method is (blender, immaculate white cloth & all), e still show say the work plenty!! I travel for this one lol (Yeah...lazy me!).
Furthermore, I will only eat my eru with water-fufu if i have tried everything i can to find garri without success. Plus, this waterfufu & ndole combo get as e be oh. I sha will not completely rule it out until i try it. More miyanga to your armpit ma'am. Lol. stay blessed!
Precious says
Hahahaha Kwandah! The sac method is how we do it back home. The Water Fufu and Ndole combo is seriously delish oo. Strange but yi di pass for back head. Lol
Luis Lane says
Looks delicious recipe! I wanna try one. I have one question. Is there any alternative to baking soda?
Precious says
Hi Luis, there is no alternative to baking soda that I know of.
Lisa says
Hi P,
I have dry water fufu from cameroon and I was wondering how will I be able to cook it?
Precious says
Hi Lisa, mix it with water to form a paste like the fresh one. Then proceed to cook it the same way we cook the fresh one. Hope this helps.
Jamila says
Interesting post. I am Nigerian and I have never heard of cassava fufu before but the igbo tribe has something called akpu that I think is quite similar to this. By the way, you soup with the vegetables looks sooooo delicious! I really wish I could have some.
- http://www.jamilakyari.com
Precious says
Yes Jamila, it is quite similar to akpu.
Thanks for your kind words 🙂
Susie says
Hi dear the cassava fufu is the same as akpu, if you have your motar with you, you can pound it, but if not you make it the semo way. Is the same thing lol.
Eka says
Hej P.
How do I preserve some which is yet uncooked. Can I put it in the freezer or just the fridge
Precious says
Hi Eka, it depends on how long you would love to keep it for. If you want to preserve it for just a few days, use the fridge. If you will be preserving it for much longer like a few weeks then use the freezer.
Chocolate 93 says
Hi Precious, I tried this out and thanks to you😊😊. But mine came out as garri and I steeped it for 7days but it wasn't as soft as yours. What did I do wrong?
Precious says
Hi Chocolate, so sorry I'm just seeing your comment now. Did you add the baking soda like I recommended? Did you keep it in a warm place? It needs a lot of warmth to get soft. Hope you try again and please let me know how it goes if you do.
Grace says
Hi Precious, Glad to find you.
Let me introduce myself. I am Indonesian and my husband is Cameroonian. I really like African cuisine but I find it difficult to learn cooking African cuisine in my country.
So far I can only cook tomato beef. Lol... my husband says that my cooking is perfect, he wants me to learn to cook more African dishes. And you help me for this. Thanks Precious, you are such a helpful angel to me.
Precious says
Hi Grace, you are so sweet. Thank you dear! Do you follow me on YouTube too? There you can watch me cooking so the whole process can be easier for you. Please let me know if you try any recipes. All the best!
Chantal says
Hey, Precious, thank you for yOur videos. You’re absolutely amazing. Is it possible to ferment already frozen grated cassava into waterfufu?
Precious says
Hi Chantal, I’m sure you can but I’ve never tried that. You’ll never know unless you try. Please let me know how it goes.
Gudi says
Hey, I am just wondering if I did something wrong.. I let the Cassava soak for around 5 days and yet just the surface has gotten soft, the insides are still hard. plus it has a not so delightful smell- is that normal from the fermentation process? Would you advise me to change the water and let it soak a little longer? Greetings from Vienna
Precious says
Hi Gudi, your situation is very normal especially when you live outside of Africa. That's because the cassava you find will likely not get soft fast. Did you add baking soda to the water before keeping it to ferment? I'll advise you add that if you didn't do so before. Also, be sure to keep it in a warm place.
The bad smell is very normal - it's a result of the fermentation process. Hope this helps, dear.
Mieke says
Hello!
Thanks for the video. I have some leftover foo foo that’s been in the refrigerator for several days. How do I warm it up to eat?
Best to you.
Precious says
Hi Mieke, you could warm it up in the microwave if you have one. Or just leave it out of the fridge for a while to come to room temperature then you enjoy.
Msrsha Tate says
Mr Gwaro, use to make fufu with Bisquick, it was sooo good. He cooked soup with the fufu.
Precious says
Sounds interesting.
Titly says
Hi I wondered whether reshaping it into fries and then
deep frying would give it another twist. Also could you add spices to it?
Precious says
Hi Titly, I don't think that will work. For fries I would rather cut the cassava (yuca root) and make fries. Yes, you can definitely add spices to your fries. Hope this helps and so sorry for the late reply.
Kelsey says
Could you please provide a link for the ninja blender on Amazon. I saw different types. Not sure which of the ninja to buy. Thank you
Precious says
Hi Kelsey, sure!
Here's the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Professional-Blender-Nutri-BL660/dp/B00939FV8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526700898&sr=8-1&keywords=Ninja+660+bl+30
Also, so sorry for the late reply. I've been so busy and just catching up with comments now. Have a great weekend!
Kelsey says
Thank you
Kelsey says
Thanks. I did buy the Ninja blender. When blending cocoyam, do I have to use a little bit of water to facilitate the blending process or I can blend without adding water?
Sarah says
Hi Precious,
Thank you so much for this information! I can't wait to try this. Do you know, can the same fermentation process be used to make attieke? I buy attieke in small boxes on Amazon, but it's expensive for only a little amount and I would like to learn to make my own. I wonder if attieke is cassava fufu that has been chipped into little bits and dehydrated... do you have any idea? Thank you!
Precious says
Hi Sarah, it is similar to attieke in that they both use fermented cassava but the processes are different. So sorry, wish I could help.
Sarah says
Hi Precious, I finally just got around to making this. It's so good, thank you!!
Precious says
Hi Sarah, so glad to hear that! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know!!
Oleanji says
I'm so glad I found your site. I love to cook all types of food. I had this at a naming ceremony when I was a child but I've only had shortcut imitation ones as since then; I'm excited to make the real thing. Question: It has no salt? Does the baking soda or fermenting give it some salt type taste?
Precious says
Hi Oleanji, so sorry for the late reply. The baking soda doesn't make it sound salty at all. Please let me know how it goes if you try it.
Ngum n says
Watched this video with my hubby last night. Then he asked what is the difference between stew , sauce and soup. All i could think of was the thickness of each. The stew being thicker and soup being lighter. Sauce in between.
Any ideas?
Precious says
A soup is lighter and contains more water than a stew. So that's right. A sauce is mostly a condiment that is eaten with other meals. Hope this helps.
Vidy says
Hi dear, do I use baking soda in a fresh fufu?
Vidy says
Hi dear, do I use baking soda in a fresh cassava?
Precious says
Hi Vidy, are you in Africa? In that case, you won't need to use baking soda.
Alisa says
Hello Precious, I'm hoping you will reply. I saw your video and tried to make the fufu last night. I live in the Caribbean and our cassava is fresh and does not need baking soda to ferment. I'm not sure how to know when it's cooked and I'm worried about eating uncooked cassava! My fufu was not an even colour and when I applied water to mould it into a shape, it seemed a bit "wet". While we have a tradition of eating cassava in the Caribbean, fufu is completely unknown so I'm not sure how it should be.
Precious says
Hi Alisa, the uneven colour might be because you didn't stir it enough so everything is even. It could be quite hard to stir - it is a workout. Also, if it is wet and sticky, it means you put in more water than needed. To save that, you could make a little hard fufu if you have more raw fufu and add to the soft one. The new one you make should be very hard so when you add it to the soft one and mix, it will get to the right consistency. The fufu is ready when it doesn't taste gummy anymore. Hope this helps.
Vidy says
What am I supposed to do if I have fresh cassava?
Precious says
Follow every process exactly the same but omit the baking soda.
Krys says
Hi, I have never had fufu but I’ve been wanting to try it. I didn’t think my local groceries carried what I needed but am I I understanding correctly, that it’s just yuca root?
Precious says
Hi Krys,
Yes it is just yuca root.
Kryst says
Hi,
Thank you for responding. I started the fermentation process on Sunday and today, I notice bubbles in the water. Is that normal?
Krys says
Hi,
Thank you for responding. I started the fermentation process on Sunday and today, I notice bubbles in the water. Is that normal?
Precious says
Hi Krys, yes that is totally normal.
Linda Zuckerman says
Does Cassava fufu tastes better than Plantain fufu? I made the plantain fufu and did not like it at all. The flavor was not pleasant. Please let me know if the yucca is better.
Maple says
Hi Precious! Love your name 🙂
I'll be making fufu for the first time (eating it for the first time too). Quick question, if I make it in the afternoon for dinner, and have left over, can I still have it the next lunch? Will it stay good? How to store the leftover (fridge or outside at room temperature)?
Precious says
Hi Maple, you can store the leftovers in the fridge but you will have to let it come to room temperature before you can eat. That's because it will be very hard when it stays in the fridge. You can also keep it at room temperature too. Please let me know how it goes.
Cindy says
Hi Precious just seeing this recipe and I love it, also can i use any cassava or does it have to be red or white cassava specifically? Thanks
Precious says
Hi Cindy, I think any edible cassava is fine.
Kemi says
Hi Precious,
Is it possible to store the uncooked fermented cassava if you have a lot, and if it is. How do store it? Thank you
Precious says
Hi Kemi, you mean the uncooked cassava paste? You can freeze it.
Tamen Lucy says
Hello ma'am.
I am in Cameroon and want to start producing powder waterfufu for sale to the public. I would appreciate some tips especially on the drying machine to use and the lifespan of the powdered fufu.
Thank you
Sarah Parker says
I am an American and am dating a Nigerian. I bought cassava to make fufu and he laughed at me! Said I wouldn't be able to do it! With your help, it came out PERFECTLY! ♥️ Thank you so much!
Precious says
You are so welcome, Sarah!
Sheila says
I don't even leave reviews BUT...I made this and it came out great! Fermented for 5 days then followed the process but made a smaller portion so I adjusted water accordingly. Only difference from yours is that my cassava took on a yellow colour (like sweet potatoes) when I started cooking . I'm guessing its the type of cassava. Everything else was perfect and I had it with fish stew and veggies! Yummy.
Way easier than I thought, so this is definitely becoming a staple. Thanks!