Achu Soup — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A vibrant yellow soup made from limestone-filtered palm oil and spices, served over pillowy mounds of pounded cocoyam, a beloved dish from Cameroon's Northwest region.

Ingredients

2kg cocoyam (taro), peeled
500g beef, cut into chunks
200g smoked fish, deboned
1 cup palm oil
2 tbsp limestone powder (nikkih or kanwa)
2 cups water
2 bouillon cubes
Salt to taste
1 tsp ground white pepper

Instructions

1 Boil peeled cocoyam in salted water until very soft, about 40 minutes. Drain and pound in a mortar until smooth and stretchy.
2 Season and boil beef until tender, about 45 minutes. Reserve stock.
3 Mix limestone powder with 2 cups warm water, stir and let settle. Carefully pour off the clear liquid into a pot.
4 Add palm oil to the limestone water and boil vigorously, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns bright yellow and emulsifies, about 20 minutes.
5 Add bouillon cubes, white pepper, salt, cooked beef, and smoked fish. Simmer 10 minutes.
6 Serve the yellow soup poured generously over mounds of pounded cocoyam.

Did You Know?

The secret to achu soup's vivid yellow colour is the limestone water (nikkih), which chemically transforms the palm oil into a smooth, golden emulsion.