Yam Porridge with plantain is an incredibly rich and tasty one pot meal, and as the name implies the recipe is basically made with porridge and plantains, seasoned with salt and fortified with spinach and dry fish.
This Nigerian Porridge recipe is so flavorful, it’s rich and so comforting and it’s often eaten as lunch or weeknight meal but can basically be eaten any time of the day. I need to mention that this recipe is also known other aliases like Yam pottage or Asaro in my traditional dialect.
In this recipe, I have used dry fish which you can replace with stockfish, but I will advise that you don’t skip the dry/stock fish because it does add a depth of flavor to the meal.
Yam porridge or Asasro (as I like to call it) is a classic in Nigerian Meals on its own likewise plantain porridge, but the combination of both the Yam and plantains equals to goodness overload. Wink*. The Plantains adds another level of sweetness to this Yam which makes the meal, not just savory but sweet!
**For those who don’t know, the yam used in this recipe is called True yam or Puna Yam (and other aliases) which is completely different from the variety of Yams known to those in the united states and Canada. Click here to learn more about the true African Yam.
YAM PORRIDGE WITH PLANTAINS (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 2 Lb Yam Small Puna
- 2 Plantains Large
- 1 Stock Fish
- 2 Tbs Cray Fish
- 1/2 Cup Palm Oil
- 1 Stock Cube
- Salt To Taste
- A handful of Spinach
- 4 to 4.5 Cups of Water
- The Sauce
- one of each Onion Tomato, Bell pepper and Habanero (blended and pre-boiled)
Instructions
- Peel the Yam, and cut it into small cubes, rinse the cubed Yams immediately to prevent it from browning and leave them in water until you are ready to use them.
- Peel the plantain and cut into cubes
- Put the cubed Yams, Plantains, stock fish, salt, seasoning cube and 4 cups of water inside a large pot. Cover it up and allow it to cook for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Stir in the blended peppers, Tomatoes and Onions, Palm Oil and crayfish
- Use a Potato masher or a wooden spoon to mash the Yam and plantain to your desired consistency. See note
- Add the spinach and adjust the water and seasoning of necessary.
- Let it simmer for a minute or two.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- I have pre-boiled the blended peppers and I choose to add it to the Yam at the tail end but it will be a good idea to add the blended peppers at the beginning or middle of the cooking process if you choose not to pre-boil the peppers, and this will ensure that the pepper is properly cooked.
- Yam Porridge usually gets thick as it gets cold, so feel free to add a little more water if you are not ready to it immediately.
- I like to mash my Yam pottage but i still like to retain some chunks inside it so i don’t mask everything but feel free to mash it to your desired consistency.
- I decided not to add diced onions to the Yam pottage because I blended a whole Onion with the peppers and tomatoes I used for the sauce. Feel free to divide the Onion into two blend half and dice half into you Yam.
Kemi
Nice
★★★★★
Isabelle
thanks