Beef Tripe (Ichifu)
It’s a new year so I wanted to push myself to share recipes that I haven’t shared before; and recipes that delve a bit deeper into Zambian culture. One thing that I know a lot of Zambians eat is Ichifu/Beef Tripe; however, it can be a bit “hit and miss” if it’s not cooked well. It does require some “tender loving care” in order to get the desired effect and flavours, so here’s my personal recipe to get you to love it as much as I do.
Preparation and cooking time: 1- 2 hours (depending on how long it takes for the tripe to soften)
Serves: 4 people (or more)
Ingredients
1 kg of Beef Tripe
2 tsps Garlic and herb seasoning
3 cloves of garlic (optional)
Salt (to taste)
2 tsps paprika (optional)
2 tsps Curry powder
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsps vegetable oil
Method
Thoroughly wash your tripe. After washing it use a sharp knife to cut it into medium sized pieces and place it into a deep pot.
Add enough water to cover the tripe, add salt, paprika, curry powder and garlic and herb seasoning,
Bring to the boil, then reduce it to a low heat and allow it to simmer until the tripe is tender and cooked through. The water should have reduced a lot, but if there is still excess water discard most of it. Add oil, chopped garlic and onion to the tripe. Increase the heat and fry it for about 2 minutes.
Add your chopped tomatoes and fry for a further 3-5 minutes. Add salt to taste.
You can use a pressure cooker to cook this. You can also use a tin of tomatoes as a pose to fresh tomatoes.
Serving
There you have your delicious tender and tasty tripe. Enjoy this with greens and nshima, rice; or you can prepare it as a stew and enjoy it with a side of fresh bread. Either way it is guaranteed to leave you wanting more. Enjoy!!
Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.
You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com. Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.
Very Kantangarous in the Kitchen. Ichifu yachi sungu!! Nice…
What is ichifu? Is it the name of the recipe?
Just call it offal,, where fecal matter is kept. That’s what it is – adding spices with sweet sounding names doesn’t change anything. How disgusting!!
So Kanta you also eat tripe . I guess you are Zambian after all . This is what we want , more Zambian meals .
There is nothing disgusting about offals . Some of us that is what we eat every day . So have some respect .
Chifu or offal is also eaten by Westerners. We really need to get rid of this inferiority complex. There is no reason why you cant have a global palate and enjoy eating African foods from all over the continent.
Very impressive. Open a Restaurant girl
Nice one girl; next do a recipe for vimbombo. Us we just know that you boil them until the they become soft and sticky. They make their own thick soup. They go down very well with beans but only problem is too much gas mumala.
Yes kanta we want vimbombo . Please show us how to prepare it nicely.
Good job. This is what I like to see!!