Black Stew · Bassa Specialty
Mbongo Tchobi
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Its signature charcoal-black color comes from burning and grinding the mbongo spice itself before it ever touches the pot.
A thick, dark stew from the Bassa people of the Littoral, built on burnt and ground mbongo spice, tomatoes, garlic and njangsa seeds, simmered with fish or meat until glossy and nearly black. It's ladled over steamed ripe plantains, cassava or rice at Douala chop houses.
Why it's made this way: The blackened spice base sets Bassa coastal cooking apart from the reddish palm-oil stews found elsewhere in Cameroon, and it's treated as a point of regional pride in Douala kitchens.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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