Thumpy Rose Humans Combine Beloved Foods To Enjoy New Dish
Curious to try an eccentric Liberian cuisine combination? Palm butter soup with cassava leaves is a mixed ingredient dish native to Liberia, and is one of the most-well known West African food recipes that is unknown among vegetarian African food. We, Humble Vege, coined the phrase Mixy-Boxa, which literally means “mix it up!” What can you pair cassava leaves stew with? Well, only 1 percent of the Liberian population love Palm Butter Cassava Leaves mixed soup. Guess which side I’m on? The group that loves it or is indifferent?
Cassava Leaves Stew & Palm Butter Soup Nutrients
This recipe may not take as little time as some of our other West African food recipes, but the time and effort are worth it. And best believe you’ll enjoy the nutritional benefits that come with this Liberian cuisine.
Cassava leaves: Cassava is a staple ingredient in many diets all over. However, studies show that the leaves are more beneficial and nutritious. They allow you to feel full while containing less calories and aiding in digestion. Cassava leaves also contain lots of Vitamin C, which boosts your immune system, helping kill bacteria and viruses.
Palm butter soup: Made of palm oil, palm butter soup is a good source of Vitamin E. As mentioned in this Dry rice with Palm oil recipe, it helps your cells function and assists your immune system. It also contains Vitamin A, beneficial for your eye health. Cassava leaves stew can be made without the addition of palm butter concentrate, but it adds its own unique flavor that you should test for yourself.
Some Liberians Disagree with This Combination
Palm butter soup mixed with cassava leaves stew is loved by 1% for a few reasons. Firstly, you cannot eat it with fufu (a yucca-based accompaniment), which most people love. Secondly, palm butter cassava leaves feels heavy/gluttonous and some are afraid they cannot handle it. Finally, some people think the tastes of the main ingredients collide, which some people do not like; sort of like too many chefs in one kitchen. If you are one of those people who will try anything once, do try this Liberian cuisine and decide for yourself.
Related: Healthy Ghana Abenkwan-Palm Nut Soup
Honestly, I cannot judge this Mixy-Boxa combo because my favorite mixed soup is bitter balls with okra. Personally, the combination of bitter balls and the sweetness from okra seem to blend nicely together. Another Mixy-Boxa combination that pairs well together is cassava leaves and fever leaves; however, some people dislike this combination in their vegetarian African food.
PRO TIP: When you eat at a cook shop or cowl bowl shop in Liberia, be sure to ask the cook what other ingredients is mixed in the soup? Some cooks are sly. Learn this the hard way!
tHUMPYrOSE
Palm Butter Cassava Leaves Is for Eccentrics
I’m certain that if you look for the word ‘delicious’ in the dictionary, the definition will say something like ‘vegetarian African food.’ Simple. You can pair this Cassava leaves stew and palm butter soup with rice. And if you want to keep it more on the West African food recipes side, you can try the single ingredient palm butter soup recipe with some fufu. Most Liberians who do not like certain mixed soup will nag about it and demand to know who developed such a combination. They try to find out which tribe created the combination, and once they do, teases them. Look, if you want to be part of the 1%, then try Palm Butter Cassava Leaves.
Will you Smash or Pass These Vegetarian African food combos?
Food in Liberia is dazzling, but some people mix extreme ingredients together. For example, some people add okra to cassava leaves stew, which I had the displeasure of eating at a friend’s house and I couldn’t finish the food because of the added okra. Cassava leaves does NOT need okra. Some people will say it does not need peanut butter either! Thankfully, these Mixy-Boxa combos are reserved only in home-made meals and are generally not available at restaurants or coal bowl shops; Or so I thought until I ate palm butter soup with bitter balls at a cookshop!
I asked the lady, “What kind of soup do you have?” She said, “Palm Butter soup.” She left out the part about eggplants, knowing fully well that most patrons will refuse it. Don’t worry, these Mixy-Boxa are not typical of vegetarian African food, only eccentric people do these things. From the list below, which mixed soup have you eaten or will like to try? Comment below.
| Mixed Soup Name | Which Flavor Dominates? |
|---|---|
| Palm butter with garden-egg eggplant | Palm Butter |
| Cassava leaves with okra | Cassava leaves |
| Cassava leaves peanut butter | Cassava leaves |
| Palm butter cassava leaves | Both? |
| Fever leaves Palm butter | Both |
| Peanut butter soup with eggplant | Peanut butter |
| Okra with Kittely | Both |
| Okra with Beans | Okra |
Specialized Vegetarian African Food for You
It is well known that many Africans love their meat. That means several of their recipes use it, and that includes West African food recipes. However, vegans and vegetarians shouldn’t have to miss out on amazing recipes (and they are amazing). This is why the recipes on Humble Vege are traditional recipes specially modified to suit a no-meat lifestyle. This Palm Butter Cassava Leaves Stew is just as good with plant proteins like firm Tofu, or Wheat Gluten. Now you don’t have to miss out on the finest Liberian cuisine. But remember, if you ever visit Liberia or any other African country, they may not be as understanding because the vegetarian lifestyle is not common to them. But don’t worry, we’ve got you! Here is some advice on etiquette you can practice when ordering food there.
If you liked this recipe, feel free to check out more recipe videos here on our website and drop a like. And here are more Liberia cuisine recipes to inspire your next meal! Even though cassava leaves palm butter soup is not my favorite, you should know it is one of those West African food recipes out there that can be a delicious vegetarian African food option. What is your favorite Mixy-Boxa meal? Please comment below. Curious about a no-animal-meat food lifestyle? Peep instagram to see what I eat live.
Palm Butter Cassava Leaves
Cassava Leaves Palm Butter is one of the native Liberian food only 1% of the population eat.
Ingredients
- 24oz ground cassava leaves (1 pack)
- 100g of Palm Butter Concentrate (1 can)
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 habanero ( or pepper flakes OPTIONAL)
- 12oz homemade Seitan Protein
- Half cup water (Extra, optional)
- 32oz vegetable broth (or 2 vege cubes)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
Place large cooking pot on medium heat flame. Add to the pot the ground cassava leaves and the Palm Butter soup concentrate. Adjust the flame to Med-HI.
Next, add 32oz vegetable broth to the Palm Butter Cassava leaves mixture and stir to combine. After you’ve added the broth, if the mixture is too thick, add another half cup of water; this part is optional. Next, proceed to add your diced onion along with diced habanero or pepper flakes. Increase or decrease the spice as you like.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Do not add the entire 1.5tsp of salt because you want the soup to cook down a little; this way, you might not over-salt the palm butter cassava leaves soup. Add your black pepper to taste. The palm butter cassava leaves consistency should be soupy, not too thick. Note the cassava leaves need to cook more than the Palm butter concentrate.
Boil the mixture on MED-HI for 30-40MINS, leave the pot uncovered to prevent boiling over; Cassava leaves splashes so you may want to cover the pot halfway as the dish thickens. During the boiling phase, you want to stir the palm butter cassava leaves from the bottom every 15mins because Cassava leaves might burn. After 30mins of boiling, add your plant proteins (Seitan or Tofu). At this stage the consistency should thicken up. Taste for salt and if you think it needs more salt, you can add the half teaspoon of salt. With the Plant proteins added, boil for another 10mins on low heat.
Finally, you should have delicious cassava leaves palm butter soup. Allow the soup to rest for 5 mins and fix yourself a bowl of rice to eat it with.
Notes
Note, I cook with less salt and less pepper so indulge and add as you like.
Also, Palm butter cassava leaves soup is best the next day. If you eat Palm Butter Cassava Leaves with fufu, i'm peaking at you oh!
