Street Staple · Cassava Bread
Chikwangue (Kwanga)
Photo: T.K. Naliaka / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
This cassava bread is wrapped and steamed in leaves that work as a natural preservative — vendors sell it unrefrigerated for days without spoiling.
Fermented cassava is pounded into a dense dough, wrapped tightly in banana or maranta leaves, and boiled or steamed into a firm, faintly sour loaf. Sold everywhere from roadside stalls to city markets across Kinshasa, unwrapped and eaten alongside stews or fish.
Why it's made this way: Fermenting and leaf-wrapping cassava was a practical solution for preserving a fast-perishing root crop without refrigeration.
Roughly what's in it
320kcal
2gprotein
75gcarbs
1gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from DR Congo
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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