Mongo Forest Recipe · Pumpkin Seed & Caterpillar
Mbika na Mbinzo (Pumpkin-Seed Porridge with Caterpillars)
Photo: T.K. Naliaka / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mbika isn't made from any grain: it's ground pumpkin and squash seeds, a rich, oily base similar to West Africa's egusi.
Dried edible caterpillars, gathered from the forests around Mbandaka and neighboring Bikoro, Ingende and Basankusu, are cooked into a thick paste of ground pumpkin or squash seeds with onion, tomato and chili, a Mongo-community staple sold across Équateur's markets.
Why it's made this way: The Mongo people of Équateur Province built their cuisine around what the rainforest and their gardens reliably provide, seasonal caterpillars for protein and squash seeds ground into a rich paste, turning the two into one of the region's defining dishes.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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