This is one recipe, that I kept getting request after request -I just couldn’t hide from it. The truth is I have never made this until now. I only got an opportunity to try it out during a recent trip to my hometown. So I had to do some poking around and it was not easy. Most traditional African dishes are hard to find on the Internet or cooking books, especially one that is frequently made by a small group of people or Tribe. So I had to seek out some help from a very dear friend of mine – Rachel, one of the best cooks I know. Unfortunately for me, she lives in another State. Sigh! Yes, disappointing to me because I don’t get to put my feet up very often when I visit friends and family – with her I get to do it. When I gave birth to my son (sous chef) she came to visit and by the time she left my fridge was stocked with meals- not just a bowl or something, it was enough to feed an army for a month. You name it; she can whip it up- from everyday American meals to traditional African meals. She is my life Saver!!! And I am so honored to call her a friend. Rachel I appreciate you!!!
Ok, let’s get down to business, although this might seem like a time-consuming meal. It is however quite easy if you have your plantain flour ready. Then the rest is easy breezy. Mbuh fish is a traditional plantain flour (mpuh) meal that is consumed in Cameroon, particularly in the South West Region of the Country. Nothing is more comforting like a meal you grew up eating when homesickness kicks in. The basic spices are country onions, African nutmeg, and Njansa, hot pepper, salt and red oil. Palm oil is used to give it color; I threw in some red bell pepper and onion as well for extra flavor. This is just my on special touch to this meal. If you don’t have the traditional African condiments, you can use granulated garlic, ginger to spice things up. All you need to do is blend all the spices in the food processor, blender or coffee grinder, add to the flour, mix, wrap and cook. You can use any fish, you like for this, and I tried it with mackerel, red snapper and catfish and all worked fine. Be sure to salt the fish before placing in the plantain mixture.
By the way, use foil paper, parchment paper if you do not have plantain leaves or place in plantain leaves first and then completely wrap in foil paper, if you are not using a steamer. Or you can put in a an oven safe container, cover with foil and steam cook.
For homemade plantain flour check out this recipe here Enjoy!!!! [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”7HLyvdlS” upload-date=”2020-07-25T14:34:11.000Z” name=”Mpuh Fish” description=”Mpuh Fish- Steamed spicy fish in plantain flour paste, consisting of red bell pepper, onions, palm oil, and African spices.” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
