Two Birds With One Soup

Next up on my list was the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Though the countries have distinct histories, they do share a border and a national dish: Muamba. As I am pretty anxious to get past all of these African nations, I decided to cook the one dish to represent both countries.

Muamba Nsusu is a chicken soup with peanut-tomato sauce. It is made by boiling chicken pieces (I chose boneless breasts) in water until cooked through and a stock is produced. I combined one cup of chicken stock with a half cup of homemade peanut butter and a small can of tomato paste. I added salt and pepper and cayenne pepper. I cut the chicken into smaller pieces, added it to the peanut-tomato mixture, then returned it to the pot with more chicken stock and stirred. Everything simmered for about an hour until the soup got nice and thick.

The combination of peanut butter and tomato is unique, and I am not sure it's a flavor that I completely embrace. But the addition of the cayenne pepper made it taste a bit like a spicy tomato bisque. In Africa Muamba is served with rice, but I decided to serve it with garlic toast instead. It was a great vehicle for mopping up the hearty soup.

We rated our Congolese meal a 2.25.