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1
Boil the Meats for Stock
45 Mins
Gentle simmer, ~95°C (203°F)
Put the beef, tripe and cow skin in a pot with the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and crumbled bouillon, and cover with water. Simmer gently for 45 minutes until the beef is tender and the cow skin is soft and jelly-like. Lift the meats out and keep 500 ml of the strained stock — cool it until just warm, not hot.
Skim the foam in the first 10 minutes; a clean stock makes a clean, bright yellow soup.
Done when: Beef yields to a fork; cow skin is soft and wobbly; the stock tastes rich and savoury.
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2
Boil the Cocoyam
40 Mins
Rolling boil, 100°C (212°F)
While the meats cook, boil the cocoyam chunks in a second pot of salted water for about 40 minutes until they are completely soft — a fork should slide through with no resistance at all. Drain well and let the steam rise off for 2 minutes so the pieces dry slightly.
Undercooked cocoyam will not pound smooth. If in doubt, give it 5 more minutes — overcooked is fixable, undercooked is not.
Done when: A fork passes through the thickest piece with no resistance.
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3
Pound the Achu
15 Mins
Hot, straight from the pot (~95°C / 203°F)
Pound the hot cocoyam in a mortar with a pestle, turning and folding as you go, until it becomes a smooth, elastic, stretchy paste with no lumps. Add a spoonful of warm water only if it stiffens. Shape it into a mound on a plate and press a deep well into the centre with a wet spoon — the well holds the soup.
Pound while the cocoyam is hot. Cold cocoyam sets hard and will never turn smooth.
Done when: The paste is smooth, glossy and stretchy; it pulls in strings when lifted.
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4
Make the Yellow Soup
10 Mins
Warm, not hot — stock ~60°C (140°F), oil ~40°C (104°F)
Warm the palm oil gently until liquid. In a blender or a wide bowl, combine the warm (not hot) stock with the strained limestone water, then add the palm oil in a slow stream while whisking or blending. The mixture thickens and turns a bright, glossy yellow — that is the alkali reacting with the oil. Stir in the achu spice, ground crayfish and salt to taste.
Warm stock, not boiling: if the stock is too hot the emulsion splits and the oil floats free. If it splits, start again with a spoonful of fresh limestone water and whisk the split soup back in slowly.
Done when: The soup is uniformly bright yellow, smooth and slightly thick, with no oil floating on top.
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5
Serve the Achu
5 Mins
Serve warm, ~60°C (140°F)
Ladle the yellow soup into the well of the achu mound so it pools and runs gently over the sides. Arrange the beef, tripe and cow skin around the mound. Eat with the fingers, pinching off a piece of achu, dipping it in the soup and scooping up a piece of meat.
Serve the soup in the well, not in a separate bowl — the well is the plate, and the soup soaking into the achu is the point.
Done when: The well is full of glossy yellow soup; the meats are arranged and ready.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Eat achu the Grassfields way: with clean hands, pinching the warm cocoyam and dipping it into the yellow soup. The first bite should be mostly achu and soup, the second with a piece of cow skin — the jelly-soft skin against the smooth paste is the texture the dish is famous for.
Cameroon
1h 35m
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