Odika sauce

Ingredients

Odika base

• 250 godika, the pressed block of dried wild-mango kernels, broken into pieces
• 500 mlhot water

Stew

• 800 gbeef chuck in 4 cm pieces, or 800 g smoked fish, or a mixture of both
• 2 tbspred palm oil
• 2onions, chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1thumb ginger, grated
• 2tomatoes, chopped
• 2hot chillies
• 1stock cube
• 2 tspground grains of selim or black pepper
• 1 litrewater
• salt

To serve

• boiled cassava, plantain or rice
• chopped African basil or odouma leaves

Directions

1. Grate or shave the odika block, then soak it in the hot water for 20 minutes until it softens into a dark, grainy paste.
2. Season and brown the beef in the palm oil in a heavy pot, 3–4 minutes a side, then add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook 8 minutes until soft.
3. Add the tomato, chillies, ground pepper, stock cube and the litre of water, cover and simmer 1 hour until the meat is tender. If you are using smoked fish, hold it back until the last 15 minutes or it will fall apart.
4. Whisk the soaked odika smooth with a ladleful of the hot broth, then stir it back into the pot in a thin, steady stream.
5. Simmer uncovered, stirring constantly for the first 5 minutes. Odika is a powerful thickener and welds itself to the base of the pot the moment you stop moving the spoon.
6. Cook 20–25 minutes more on low heat. The sauce turns glossy, dark chocolate-brown, and thick enough to hold the track of a spoon dragged through it.
7. Taste for salt and heat. It should read as smoky, faintly bitter and nutty, much closer to dark chocolate than to peanut.
8. Stir in the herbs off the heat and serve with boiled cassava, plantain or rice.

Technique

• Odika is made from the kernels of the wild mango, Irvingia gabonensis, dried, roasted, ground and pressed into hard blocks, which is why Gabonese call it chocolat du Gabon. It is thickener and flavour in one.
• It burns easily and thickens fast, so keep the heat low from the moment it goes in and do not walk away from the pot.
• Smoked ingredients are traditional and matter here: smoked fish, smoked meat or a smoked stock cube all reinforce the odika’s own smokiness.
• Odika sets very firm as it cools; if you are reheating it, loosen it with a little hot water rather than more oil.

Substitutions

• Where odika is unobtainable, ground egusi melon seed with a spoonful of cocoa powder and a piece of smoked fish gives roughly the right body and colour, though not the resinous wild-mango note.

Variations

• Cooked with fish, prawns or crab along the Gabonese coast rather than with beef.
• Some cooks stir ground peanuts in alongside the odika for a rounder, sweeter sauce.

History

A thick sauce made from odika, the ground kernel of the wild mango, or bush mango, tree, cooked with meat or fish until it thickens into a smooth, chocolate-like paste, sometimes informally called Gabonese chocolate for its dark colour and dense, cocoa-like consistency, though it is entirely savory rather than sweet. Odika kernels must be properly processed, often fermented and dried, before use, a preparation technique developed and passed down within Gabonese and neighboring Central African cooking traditions using the wild mango tree, distinct from the cultivated mango grown for its fruit. Odika sauce remains one of the dishes most distinctively associated with Gabonese and wider Central African forest cuisine, typically served over rice, plantain or a pounded starch.

Frequently asked questions

What is Odika sauce?

Odika sauce is a soup & stew from Gabon: meat or fish stewed with smoky wild-mango-kernel bush chocolate. A thick sauce made from odika, the ground kernel of the wild mango, or bush mango, tree, cooked with meat or fish until it thickens into a smooth, chocolate-like paste, sometimes informally called Gabonese chocolate for its dark colour and dense, cocoa-like consistency, though it is entirely savory rather than sweet. Odika kernels must be properly processed, often fermented and dried, before use, a preparation technique developed and passed down within Gabonese and neighboring Central African cooking traditions using the wild mango tree, distinct from the cultivated mango grown for its fruit. Odika sauce remains one of the dishes most distinctively associated with Gabonese and wider Central African forest cuisine, typically served over rice, plantain or a pounded starch.

How long does Odika sauce take to make?

Odika sauce takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Odika sauce?

Yes, within limits. Where odika is unobtainable, ground egusi melon seed with a spoonful of cocoa powder and a piece of smoked fish gives roughly the right body and colour, though not the resinous wild-mango note.

What is the most important thing to get right in Odika sauce?

Add the tomato, chillies, ground pepper, stock cube and the litre of water, cover and simmer 1 hour until the meat is tender. If you are using smoked fish, hold it back until the last 15 minutes or it will fall apart.