Bitterleaf Stew · Sawa Classic
Ndolé
Photo: PRA / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Though often called Cameroon's national dish, ndolé actually began as a specialty of the Sawa peoples around Douala, built on a leaf so bitter it must be boiled and rinsed repeatedly before it's cooked.
Bitterleaf (or substituted spinach) is simmered down with a thick roasted-peanut paste, then studded with smoked fish, shrimp and cubes of stewed beef or pork rind. Douala's chop bars serve it heaped next to fried plantains or miondo.
Why it's made this way: Ndolé's roots lie with the Duala and Bassa fishing communities, whose access to fresh shrimp and smoked river fish shaped the dish long before it spread nationwide.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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