Gabon | Stew

Nyembwe Chicken

Name: Nyembwe Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Gabon, Central Africa
Ingredients: 1½ kg chicken pieces, bone-in thighs and drumsticks; 500 g palm nut cream or sauce graine; 2 large onions, sliced; 2 medium tomatoes, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 tbsp neutral oil or red palm oil; 1 tbsp mustard; 1 whole habanero or scotch bonnet pepper, left whole; 2 cups water or light chicken stock; salt and black pepper, to taste

Gabon's palm-nut chicken stew, simmered with onion, tomato, garlic, chile, and nyembwe sauce until rich and tender.

Country

Gabon

Region

Central Africa

Time

80 min

Serves

Level

medium

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Nyembwe is about the sauce. Brown the chicken, soften the aromatics, then let palm nut cream simmer gently until it coats every piece.

What the dish tastes like

Gabon's palm-nut chicken stew, simmered with onion, tomato, garlic, chile, and nyembwe sauce until rich and tender.

When to cook it

Best for National celebrations, family feasts, Sunday lunch, with a medium cooking level and about 80 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Boiled plantains, cassava, rice, fufu, or baton de manioc

Regional lane

Gabon national table. A verified Gabon dish in the AfroKitchen archive.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Chef board

Build the table around Nyembwe Chicken

Boiled plantains, cassava, rice, fufu, or baton de manioc

Best route from here

Gabon national table

Collections to keep cooking

Swallow and Soup Table One-Pot Family Meals

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 6 servings

Stew

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Gabon

6 steps 80 min total medium

Season chicken

Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic, and mustard if using. Rest briefly.

Season 15:00

Brown chicken

Heat oil in a heavy pot and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Brown 10:00

Cook aromatics

Cook onions in the same pot until soft, then add tomatoes and cook until they collapse.

Cook base 08:00

Add nyembwe

Stir in palm nut cream and water or stock until smooth. Add the whole chile if using.

Braise

Return chicken to the pot, cover, and simmer gently until tender and the sauce thickens.

Braise 45:00

Serve

Remove the whole chile. Taste for salt and serve hot with plantain, cassava, rice, or fufu.

Some cooks season the chicken with mustard or bouillon; others keep the palm nut sauce simpler.

Nyembwe Chicken

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Nyembwe Chicken

Step-by-step method

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