Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Fakoye
A slippery jute-leaf sauce with meat and smoked fish, served over rice or with tô, a Malian and Sahelian favorite.
Malian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 50 min
~470 cal · 41g protein · 6g carbs · 30g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Fakoye is a sauce of Mali and the wider Sahel, made from jute leaves (also called krenken or ewedu), which give it a distinctive slippery, -like texture. It is everyday, nourishing home food, served across Mali and Niger and neighbouring countries.
The dried or fresh jute leaves are cooked down with meat and often smoked or dried fish, onion, and a little tomato into a green, glossy, mucilaginous sauce, seasoned with ( locust beans), cumin, and other local spices, and sometimes a touch of potash. It is ladled over rice or eaten with tô, the stiff or corn porridge that is the Sahelian staple. Earthy, savoury, and deeply local, it is everyday food across West Africa's dry heart.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb lamb or beef, cubed
6 oz smoked or dried fish
1 lb jute leaves (fresh or dried)
2 cups onion and tomato
1 tbsp ( locust beans)
Hard to find? fermented black beans (douchi), or a spoonful of dark miso - both bring the fermented, salty depth; miso is smoother and less funky than the real thing, and check the label if you need it gluten-free, since some misos are made with barley
1 tsp ground cumin (fakoye spice)
1 tbsp cube and chili
3 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Brown the meat with the onion, then add the tomato, cumin, and smoked fish and a little water.
2
Add the jute leaves and simmer until they break down into a green, slippery sauce.
✎ Chef’s note
Do not overcook once the leaves are in, and stir gently; the prized slippery texture comes from the jute leaves themselves.
3
Season with chili, stock, and the soumbala, mashing it in, and cook until the meat is tender.
4
Serve over rice or with tô.
Malian and Sahelian tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bamako. Bamako sits on the Niger and simmers tigadegena, a groundnut stew cooked slowly with tomato and meat, poured over rice or millet to. Malian cooking uses millet and sorghum porridges, smoked fish from the river, and hibiscus and ginger drinks alongside.
🗺️
Mali. Fonio may be the oldest cereal grown in Africa and it is the one that makes the Sahel survivable. Some varieties give grain six to eight weeks after planting, faster than any other cereal, and they will grow on sandy, worn-out soil that defeats millet and sorghum, which is why they arrive in the hungry season before the main crops are ready.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mali
MaafeA rich West African groundnut stew of peanut butter, tomato, and root vegetables simmered around tender meat.
MaasaMalian pancake-doughnuts: lightly fermented rice-and-millet batter fried into golden puffs and dusted with sugar, sold hot from roadside pans.
MoniMali's millet porridge of tiny hand-rolled flour pearls simmered in tamarind-soured water and sweetened, eaten at breakfast and Ramadan.
Browse all Mali recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Fakoye?
A slippery jute-leaf sauce with meat and smoked fish, served over rice or with tô, a Malian and Sahelian favorite.
Where does Fakoye come from?
Fakoye is a Malian dish from Bamako, Mali.
Can Fakoye be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Fakoye recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Fakoye safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Fakoye take to make?
About 70 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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