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Ayamase Jollof Rice

A spicy Nigerian rice dish cooked with assorted meat, smoked mackerel, and a pepper paste.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,433 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Ayamase Jollof Rice

Timeabout 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Cook the assorted meat pieces until tender.

  2. Fry them in oil to brown them.

  3. Set aside.

Make the pepper base

  1. Blend the bell pepper, habanero, and onions to a rough paste.

  2. Heat the bleached palm oil in a pot over high heat.

  3. Add the blended pepper mixture and cook, stirring.

  4. Stir in the iru, stock cubes, ground crayfish, and salt.

  5. Let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often.

Cook the rice

  1. Stir in the meat stock and enough extra water to cook the rice.

  2. Bring to a boil, and stir in the rice.

  3. Stir in the shaki and kpomo.

  4. Cover, and cook until the rice is tender.

  5. Stir in the smoked mackerel, and let it steam for a few minutes.

  6. Stir in the fried meat, and remove from the heat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

414Calories
7 gProtein
15 gFat
64 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 11 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Crayfishnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Mackerelnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Meat + crayfishtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Meat + ricetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bleached palm oil
Carries the pepper flavour and gives the jollof its rich, reddish colour and fat.
Rice
Forms the body of the dish and absorbs the seasoned stock as it cooks.
Green bell peppers
Add fresh, vegetal sweetness and bulk to the pepper base.
Habanero peppers
Provide heat and aroma to the pepper base.
Meat stock
Supplies liquid that cooks the rice and carries savoury flavour through it.
Assorted meat
Adds savoury depth and protein-rich texture to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Cooking the rice until tender. The rice must absorb the liquid slowly under a covered pot. Too little liquid leaves it hard, while lifting the lid lets steam escape and can leave it unevenly cooked. Stirring rice in before the stock boils can also cause uneven cooking and sticking at the base of the pot.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, crayfish, rice):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, crayfish, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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