Cameroonian Sese Plantains is a one-pot plantain dish with red palm oil, crayfish and other delicious ingredients. It is hearty with a bit of smokiness and so much flavor from the spices used. Green plantains are a good source and if you haven't incorporated them in your diet yet you should. Hope you enjoy this meal which reflects my cultural heritage.
1poundgoat meat, cut into 2 inch slicessub with cow meat or more dried fish or smoked fish
2medium onions, chopped
1 1/2teaspoonssalt
6green (unripe) plantains
2cupsdried fish, bones removed
1/2cupcrayfish
1cupred palm oil
2-3inchesginger root, peeled
6-8clovesgarlic, peeled
4Maggi seasoning cubes4g cubes
1habanero or scotch bonnet pepperoptional
4cupsbaby spinach, sub with kale
Instructions
Put goat meat in a pot. Pour in water to completely cover the meat. Add in 1/4 cup of the chopped onion and sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover, bring to a boil and let it cook until the goat meat is tender but still has a bite to it. About 20 minutes.
Peel the plantains. To peel a plantain, cut the ends of the plantain then score the plantains from top to bottom being careful not to wound the flesh of the plantains. Give a 1-inch gap then score the plantain again from top to bottom. Repeat the process two more times. Use your fingers to lift the skin of the plantains off the flesh. It should come off easily.
Rinse the peeled plantains then cut them into coins that are about 1 inch thick.
Add the plantains to the goat meat. Add in water to completely cover the plantains then add in the palm oil.
Crush the crayfish to break it down a little. You could either use this using a blender a small mortar or a Ziploc bag. To crush using a Ziploc bag, place the crayfish into a small Ziploc bag. Press the bag to release all the air then seal the bag. Use a rolling pin to hit on the bag until the crayfish is broken down.
Add the crayfish to the plantains. Mix everything with a wooden spoon to combine. Cover and bring to a boil.
While the pot comes to a boil, blend the garlic and ginger into a paste (I used a small mortar to crush them).
After the pot comes to a boil, add in the blended garlic and ginger, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, then sprinkle on the seasoning cubes (Maggi). Also add the habanero pepper if using (I add the full pepper without crushing so it releases a bit of flavor but the meal isn't too spicy).Stir everything to combine. Cover the pot and let it cook for about 30 minutes until the plantains are very soft and break easily when pierced with a fork. Add more water to the level of the plantains if the water gets low. Sese Plantain needs to be saucy.
Once the plantains are completely cooked, taste to ensure seasoning is perfect. Add more salt if needed.
Roughly chop the spinach and add to the pot. Mix well to combine. Once the vegetables shrink and mix well with everything turn off the heat.
Let the pot rest covered for 5 minutes then serve hot. Serve with some avocado on the side. So good!
Notes
1. It is important that you let the plantains cook until very soft. When the plantains are not well cooked they could be hard and the meal will be unappealing.2. Traditionally bitterleaf, a leafy green in West Africa is used to make Sese Plantains. Bitterleaf has some bitterness to it which adds a distinct delicious taste to Sese Plantains. Unfortunately I don't have any fresh bitterleaves so I used spinach. You could use kale as well.