Gourmet Vegetarians Logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Dessert
    • Snack
  • Cuisine
    • African
    • Asian
    • Carribean
    • European
    • Middle Eastern
    • North American
    • Oceanic
    • South American
  • About Us
  • Contact
African, Congo, Countries, Cuisine, Recipes, Side  /  February 18, 2021

Congolese Green Rice (Riz aux Épinard)

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Congolese green rice (Riz aux Épinard) makes for the perfect vegetarian side dish. White rice is cooked with spinach, okra and garlic to add extra flavour and nutritional punch.

Congolese Green Rice (Potage de Riz aux Épinard)

Country Number 39: Congo

Before starting this challenge, I never realised just how confusing country names could be. Congo, for instance, is not just referred to as Congo. It also goes by  “the Congo”, “the Republic of Congo”, “the Congo Republic” and “Congo-Brazzaville”. This gets rather tricky when we are trying to cook a dish from every country in the world in alphabetic order. For the purposes of this exercise, we shall go with the simple “Congo” to refer to this Central African nation.

Located on the West Coast of Africa, Congo has a population of 5.2 million. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes for thousands of years. More recently, the Congo was part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. In 1960, the nation gained its independence from France. For over 20 years it was a Marxist-Leninist state, but since 1992 it has had multi-party elections. The country has become the fourth-largest oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea. Although this has provided some prosperity to the country, due to political instability and corruption, this wealth has been very unevenly distributed throughout the country.

History of Congolese Cuisine

Most of Congo is covered with tropical rainforest and the climate is characterised by heavy precipitation and high temperatures. Only two percent of the land is cultivated, with this farmland used for crops such as maize, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and nuts. Native fruits, mushrooms, honey, bushmeats and fish are also gathered and hunted and used in Congolese cuisine.

Most meals tends to feature a starchy ingredient, such as fufu, which is a mash made of cassava, or kwanga, which is a type of fermented bread. A stew made of vegetables or meat normally accompanies the starch. Although complete vegetarianism is uncommon, many meals are meat-free due to its high price. Instead, edible insects, mushrooms or nuts are eaten as sources of protein.

Popular Congolese Vegetarian Dishes

  • Fufu- Popular throughout the entirety of Africa, fufu is a porridge made of pounded cassava, plantains or yams.
  • Fumbwa stew– This Congolese stew is made from a wild spinach called fumbwa that is boiled with tomato, onions and palm oil.
  • Dabo kolo– Famous in Ethiopoia, dabo kolo are small pieces of fried bread made of roasted barley, chickpeas and peanuts, which has also gained popularity in the Congo.
  • Madesu– This dish consists of beans that are cooked in water before being fried in palm oil and tomato sauce.
  • Mikate– Another popular snack, these round fried dough balls are often served dipped in peanut butter and sprinkled with sugar.
  • Potage de Riz aux Épinard- Rice cooked with spinach and okra.

Vegetarian rating of Congolese Cuisine:

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Congolese Green Rice (Potage de Riz aux Épinard)

Making Congolese Green Rice (Riz aux Épinard)

Rice is a pretty remarkable grain. This cooking challenge alone has demonstrated just how many different forms it can take. From porridge to doughnuts to waffles, the forms rice can take on are as endless as a paddy field. Now, the Congolese recipe we chose to make doesn’t utilise rice in a particularly fanciful way. Instead, it adds a little extra pizzaz to rice in its most common form: as a humble side dish. Spinach and okra are simply cooked with the rice, which makes it perfect for adding (or sneaking) in some extra greens to a meal.

Congolese Green Rice (Potage de Riz aux Épinard) saucepan

How to make Congolese Green Rice (Riz aux Épinard)

This Congolese green rice is ridiculously easy to make, only taking 5 minutes longer to prepare than regular white rice. It comes together in 2 easy steps:

  1. In a medium pan with a lid, heat oil over medium heat. Add in garlic, spinach, okra and salt and pepper, sauté for 5 minutes until spinach has wilted and okra has softened, stirring regularly.
  2. Stir in 1 cup of rice and 1 3/4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to gentle simmer, then cover pan with lid and cook for 20-25 minutes, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender.
Congolese Green Rice (Potage de Riz aux Épinard) Ingredients

Ingredient notes for Congolese Green Rice

  • Spinach- We used fresh baby spinach in our green rice but you can substitute for frozen spinach if needed, or any other type of leafy greens such as swiss chard or kale.
  • Okra- We used frozen okra for this recipe, which we found in the frozen section of the supermarket. If you can find fresh okra, this is a good substitute.

Serving suggestions for Potage de Riz aux Épinard

We served our Congolese green rice with chicken moambe (made with a vegetarian chicken substitute), a recipe that we will be posting at a later date. However, it would work as a side dish with any type of protein or vegetables.

Other rice dishes to try

  • One-pot Spicy Tomato Rice (Riz Gras)- Burkina Faso
  • Caramelised Pineapple & Baked Tofu (Kho Manor Nung To Hu)- Cambodia

Green Rice (Riz aux Épinard)- Congo

Green rice (Riz aux Épinard) makes for the perfect vegetarian side dish. White rice is cooked with spinach, okra and garlic to add extra flavour and nutritional punch.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 30 mins
SERVINGS 3 as a side

INGREDIENTS
  

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 cup spinach (chopped)
  • 1 cup okra (thinly sliced)
  • Salt & pepper (to taste)
  • 1 cup white rice
  • 1 vegetable stock cube

Instructions
 

  • In a medium pan with a lid, heat oil over medium heat. Add in garlic, spinach, okra and salt and pepper, sauté for 5 minutes until spinach has wilted and okra has softened, stirring regularly.
  • Stir in 1 cup of rice,1 3/4 cups of water and vegetable stock cube and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to gentle simmer, then cover pan with lid and cook for 20-25 minutes, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

Recipe inspired by International Cuisine
Course Side Dish
Cuisine African, Congolese
Keyword garlic, Gluten-free, grain, Healthy, okra, Rice, spinach, Vegan

Did you make this recipe? We’d love to know! Tell us how it went in the comments below or tag us (@gourmetvegetarians) in your photos on Instagram.

Like this recipe? PIN IT!

Related

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Post navigation

Spiced Green Pea Soup (Soupe Faux Pois)- Comoros
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Vegan Tamales– Costa Rica

Related posts

Afghan Vegetarian Dumplings (Aushak)
Afghanistan, Cuisine, Dinner, Featured, Recipes  /  August 22, 2020
11 Comments

Afghan Vegetarian Dumplings (Aushak)

Classic Brazilian Acai Bowl
Brazil, Breakfast, Countries, Cuisine, Recipes, Snack, South American  /  November 11, 2020
10 Comments

Classic Brazilian Acai Bowl

Bahamian Banana Bread with Buttered Rum Sauce
Bahamas, Breakfast, Carribean, Cuisine, Dessert, Featured, Recipes, Snack  /  September 16, 2020
10 Comments

Bahamian Banana Bread with Buttered Rum Sauce

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




ABOUT US

Hey there!

We are Nicola & Floss, another pair of travel-and-food obsessed besties from New Zealand. Given travel is off the cards for the moment, we have decided to embark on a quest to cook our way around every country in the world in a year. Wish us luck- we are going to need it.

LETS GET SOCIAL

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • Email

CUISINES COOKED:

92 out of 196

Time left to cook:

i

GET THE LATEST

Sign up to receive updates from our wild cooking adventure around the world!

  • Elara Pro by LyraThemes.com
  • © Gourmet Vegetarians