RouteKinshasa

Kinshasa Food: Pondu, Fufu & the Taste of Congo

Kinshasa's food is Congolese at heart — pondu cassava leaf stew, fufu, saka-saka, and the freshwater fish of the Congo River are the foundations, alongside the street food culture that feeds 17 million people

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1
Pondu: Cassava Leaf Stew
Pondu — cassava leaves cooked with palm oil, smoked fish and pili-pili chili — is Kinshasa's quintessential dish; prepared daily in every household and served as the main meal at lunchtime
2
Fufu Pounding Ceremony
The preparation of fufu - pounding cooked cassava in a wooden mortar - is an indigenous ritual in Kinshasa; the sound of pounding is a daily urban soundtrack in the city's residential areas
3
Kwanga Fermented Cassava
The fermented cassava dumpling called kwanga — with its distinctive sour taste and wrapped in leaves — is a Kinshasa street food staple, sold in every market and eaten with any stew
4
Grilled Capitaine by the River
Fresh Nile perch from the Congo River, charcoal-grilled with lemon and chilli, served at the riverside restaurants on the waterfront in Gombe - a meal inseparable from the river's presence
5
Primus Beer: Congo's national drink
Primus beer – brewed in Kinshasa since the Belgian colonial era – is the Congolese national drink; cold Primus with grilled fish at a nganda by the river is the definitive Kinshasa experience
6
Night Street Food Scene
After 10 p.m. the street food scene lights up — grilled brochettes, fried plantains, makayabu dried salt fish and the cassava porridge known as bouillie are served from illuminated stalls all over the city