Cameroonian Coconut Rice
My mother taught me how to make this Cameroonian coconut rice. The rice is slowly simmered in freshly extracted coconut milk. It is a complete balanced meal all made in one pot! The crème de la crème of African coconut rice recipes. Hope you enjoy!
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 3 cups rice (I used parboiled rice)
- 1 medium brown coconut
- 1 pound beef - cut into one inch pieces (about half a kg)
- 5 cloves garlic - peeled
- 1/2 inch ginger - peeled
- 1 medium onion
- 2 seasoning cubes (Maggi) (about 4g per cube - substitute with 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 hot (habanero) pepper (optional)
- 1 carrot - diced
- 10 green beans - diced
Instructions
- 1
Crack open the coconut by hitting several times around its perimeter using the blunt side of a butcher knife. Be sure to have a bowl nearby to catch the coconut water when it starts dripping. See video to watch how I open a coconut.
- 2
Microwave the coconut on high for 2 minutes. Then use a pairing knife to separate the coconut meat from the shell.
- 3
Cut the coconut meat into about 1 inch slices then place in a blender. Add in 3 cups of water and blend till totally crushed. Pass the crushed coconut through a fine sieve to extract the coconut milk. Add in 2 more cups of water to the coconut milk and blend again to extract more milk. Pass through a fine sieve then set aside the remaining coconut chaff for use if eventually needed.
- 4
Note that you may or may not need more coconut milk depending on how much liquid your rice needs to cook completely. If you happen to need more milk. Simply add water to the chaff and blend again then pass through a sieve to extract the milk.
- 5
Place the coconut milk in a pot. Add in seasoning cubes/bouillon powder, and salt. Add in the beef then bring to a boil on medium heat.
- 6
While the milk comes to a boil, blender together garlic, ginger, half the onion and habanero pepper if using. Chop the other half onion. Also wash the rice 2 to 3 times to remove the starch. Add the rice, chopped onion and spice blend to the boiling coconut milk. Cover and let it cook until the rice is done - about 15 minutes.
- 7
When the rice is done, gently fluff with a spoon then add the carrot and green beans and mix to combine. Turn off the heat and enjoy warm.