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Ekwang

A stew of beef, cocoyam leaves, and spices cooked in palm and groundnut oil.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Ekwang

Timeabout 1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the cocoyam leaves thoroughly and remove the tough stems.

  2. Chop the leaves into smaller pieces and set aside.

Make the stew

  1. Heat the palm oil and groundnut oil in a large pot over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onions and minced garlic, and sauté until fragrant.

  3. Add the beef cubes to the pot and cook until browned on all sides.

  4. Add the crayfish, ground crayfish, dried bitterleaf, and dried utazi leaves to the pot. Stir well to combine the ingredients.

  5. Pour in the water and season with salt to taste. Stir again to ensure even distribution of the ingredients.

  6. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 1 hour, or until the beef is tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the chopped cocoyam leaves to the pot and stir to incorporate them into the mixture.

  2. Cover the pot and cook for an additional 15–20 minutes, or until the cocoyam leaves are cooked and tender.

  3. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, adding more salt or spices according to your preference.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

424Calories
28 gProtein
29 gFat
12 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Crayfishnot in our table0
Waternot 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 + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Beef + garlictop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Browning and simmering make the meat tender and savory, giving the stew its main body.
Cocoyam leaves
Cooked until tender, they thicken the stew and provide its main vegetable bulk.
Palm oil
Fat that carries flavor and adds richness to the stew base.
Onions
Sautéed to build a savory, aromatic base for the stew.
Dried utazi leaves
Add a distinctive aromatic, slightly bitter flavor characteristic of the dish.
Dried bitterleaf
Contributes a characteristic bitter flavor that balances the richness of the stew.

The step that matters

Simmering the beef until tender before adding the cocoyam leaves. Beef needs a long, gentle simmer to break down its connective tissue; adding the leaves too early or boiling hard can leave the meat tough and the leaves overcooked or mushy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, crayfish, onion, garlic):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, crayfish, onion, garlic. 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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