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Best Abacha (food) in London

“Cassava soaked, softened, then finished in curdled palm oil—flexible enough for a light snack or a full meal.”

Abacha (food)

What the real thing tastes like

Abacha () is a type of food originating with the Igbos in the southeastern part of Nigeria. Abacha is a product of cassava tubers. When the processing of it is done from scratch, harvested cassava is obtained, peeled, washed, cooked and sliced into desired sizes or shapes. It is soaked for a day. It could be prepared instantly as abacha or sun-dried for future use. Shredded dried cassava first needs to be softened by soaking in boiled water and covered up for a few minutes. Optional supplementary ingredients, which often represent regionally-derived variations, include ogiri; ugba (also called ukpaka); oporo (large dried shrimp); fried fish; dry fish; coloured peppers; seasoning cubes; ehuru (or "ehulu"; colloquially shortened to ehu); pepper (such as Scotch bonnet); onions; utazi; garden eggs (and sometimes the leaves); ukazi leaves; akidi beans (marked variant); kpomo (or kanda; cow-skin); and ukwa (possibly unique to the Ikwerre people). Palm oil, which may either be red or a combi

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Abacha is a cassava dish born from Igbo kitchens in southeastern Nigeria, built on a foundation of patient transformation: cassava tubers peeled, cooked, sliced, and soaked until they soften into something that can be either a quick snack or a substantial meal. The real work happens in the finishing—palm oil is curdled with potash or baking soda into an emulsion, then the cassava mingles with it alongside a sprawling list of optional players: dried shrimp, ukazi leaves, garden eggs, peppers, and regional variations that shift from one community to the next. It's known as African salad, a name that captures its flexibility: add what you have, make it your own.

Order it here when it has

  • adaptable to appetite & ingredients
  • made from scratch or sun-dried for storage
  • regionally diverse

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