Tag: appetizer
African Corn Tamales wrapped in Banana Leaves
African Corn Tamales wrapped in Banana Leaves
These corn tamales are indigenous to Centra African cuisine; specifically Cameroonian. They consist of corn, cornmeal, palm oil, and spinach wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. The main difference between wrapping your tamales in banana leaves as opposed to corn husks like the Mexican version is that the banana leaves give the tamales more of an earthy flavor while husks make it taste more corny. I have been putting off making these for the last month thinking that they were going to take longer than I thought. You can honestly make the corn mixture in less than 10 minutes. The banana leaves took less than 10 minutes to wash and heat up under the broiler. This step is very important and can’t be missed. Heating them up under a flame allows the leaves to be pliable. If you skip this step, the leaves will tare when you roll up the tamales. I’m extremely efficient in rolling up things; so it took me less than 5 minutes to make the entire batch of tamales. This recipe should yield you 10-12 tamales. So 25-30 minutes of assembly with 90 minutes of steaming. When they are finished, the tamales need to sit for 15-20 to firm up.These tamales can be eaten out of the leaves as is or are even better topped with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce. Skip the cheese and sour cream if you want these to continue to be vegan.
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- steamer pot and basket
Ingredients
- 6 cup corn
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3 tbsp palm oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp dehydrated onion
- 3 cups spinach chopped
- banana leaves
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, pulse the corn with 1 cup of water until roughly chopped, but not puréed.
- Add the corn mixture to another bowl with cornmeal, salt, palm oil, garlic powder, and dehydrated onions. Mix thoroughly.
- Mix in the spinach.
- Tare the banana leaves into 10”x12” pieces. Wash thoroughly. Place them under your broiler for a minute. This helps them be pliable. Take 1 cup of the corn mixture and place it across the center of the banana leaf.
- Roll it up. Don’t smoke it.
- Line the bottom of a steamer basket with banana leaves. You don’t want any water touching the tamales while steaming.
- Place the tamales upright in the steamer basket. Cover and let steam for 90 minutes.
- When finished steaming, remove from the pot and let sit for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
- You can eat these asis right out of the banana leaf.
- Or you can top the tamales with sour cream and your favorite hot sauce.
African Scotch Eggs
African Scotch Eggs
This is an African version of the Scottish Scotch egg, just without the egg wrapped in sausage and breadcrumbs. Instead, the hard boiled eggs are wrapped in a dough then deep fried. The outside is very similar to a flakey crescent roll. Serve these with your favorite hot sauce.
Ingredients
- 8 hard boiled eggs
- 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp gatlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 oz melted butter
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Add the yeast to the warm water. Mix and let sit for 5 minutes. Then stir in the sugar, salt and whole milk.
- Mix in the flour, garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper. Then mix in the melted butter until the dough forms.
- On a lightly floured surface, need the dough to a couple of minutes. Roll the dough out to 1/2” thick. Using something circular, like a cup or a ramekin, cut out circles out of the dough.
- Take on of the dough circles and roll it a little thinner. Place one of the hard boiled eggs in the center.
- Fold over and crimp the edges. Then roll it into an egg shape.
- Let the dough sit and rise for 30 minutes.
- Fill a small pot with 2” of cooking oil over medium high heat. The temp should read 350 degrees. Add in 4 off the eggs.
- Fry for 5 minutes in total, flipping the eggs half way through the cooking time.
- Drain on paper towel.
- Serve with your favorite hot sauce.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Super simple appetizer ready in 15 minutes. This recipe also works good with ground pork. You typically see carrots used as one of the main vegetables along with water chestnuts. They person I was cooking for happened to be allergic to carrots, so I substituted diced green beans. They have a nice crunch to them. Sliced mushrooms would be a great addition to this appetizer.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tamarind juice
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
Chicken Lettuce Wrap Filling
- 1 lb ground chicken thigh
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts diced
- 1/2 cup green beans, long beans, or carrots diced
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp black soy sauce
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- 12 iceberg lettuce leaves washed
- hoisin sauce
- toasted sesame seeds
- 2 green onion diced
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.
- Add a tbsp of olive oil to a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger for 2 minutes.
- Add in the 5 spice powder. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the ground chicken thigh. Break up all of the clumps.
- Pour the sauce over the ground chicken. Cook for 8 minutes.
- Add. In the water chestnuts and diced green beans. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Mix together the cornstarch and black soy sauce. Add that to the ground chicken mix. Cook down until there is no liquid remaining.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the green onions.
- Take a large scoop of the ground chicken mix a put it in the center of the lettuce leaf. Put a little bit of hoisin sauce on the top with a sprinkle of toasted sesame.
