Achu Soup (Yellow Soup)
This gloriously yellow achu soup is creamy and comforting Cameroonian home cooking. It’s fairly common in the Western and North West provinces and always paired with mashed or pounded achu coco (taro). Elegant comfort food.
If you have been looking for a recipe for achu soup, also known as yellow soup and sauce jaune, here you go! This recipe had been on my blog to-do list forever, but I kept putting it off for one reason or another. But then, I wanted to start the last New Year with a hometown favorite!
This gloriously yellow, delicate soup can be superb or catastrophic, depending on whether you carry out certain essential points. Traditionally, it is made with a fusion of beef or chicken broth, red palm oil (not the controversial kind), limestone, and a variety of spices.
Most of the spices I really cannot identify by name because they’re always grouped together and sold as achu spice. So that’s how I buy them.
What Is Achu?
This dish is typical of Cameroonian home cooking and is fairly common in the Western and North West provinces. It’s always paired with mashed or pounded achu coco (taro). Here, I used the food processor to blend the achu coco. If you have a mortar and pestle and desire a smooth consistency and perfect texture, then by all means use it! For mortals like us, this is as good as it gets.
The modern version of this soup is ridiculously easy to make. The liquid fusion can be accomplished using a blender, giving it an added dimension of smoothness, and in less than 2 minutes, you are done. How cool is that?
Before you pound away… here’s a question for you. Is it okay to eat achu soup with a spoon? Yes or no?
How to Make Achu Soup
- Boil the meat (beef, cow skin, tripe, etc.), seasoned with salt and red pepper, until tender. You can do this faster in a pressure cooker. (Photos 1-2)
- Strain the meat from the broth and set aside. Let the stock cool to room temperature.
- Pour the cooled stock into a blender, then add warmed red oil, achu spice, limestone powder, and bouillon powder and puree until smooth and emulsified. It should turn a beautiful yellow color. (Photos 3-4)
- Place the meat in a bowl, and pour the yellow broth over it. Or serve the soup in a cocoyam bowl (instructions in the recipe card). (Photos 5-6)
How to Make Achu Coco
- Steam the cocoyam and optional green bananas until tender, no need to peel. (Photo 1)
- Rinse in cold water so you can handle them without burning yourself. Remove the peels, and puree the cocoyam and bananas in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Add salt to taste. (Photos 2-3)
- Wrap a scoop of the mixture in banana leaves or plastic wrap, and form it into a log. Or serve them like you would mashed potatoes. (Photo 4)
Recipe Notes
- If you can’t find achu spice at your local African market, try Amazon or another online store. It contains esese (calabash nutmeg), pebe (Jamaican nutmeg), and peppers. So if you need to substitute it, mix ground nutmeg with ground white, black, and red pepper.
- Achu coco, cocoyam, and taro are all similar, so use whatever you can get.
- Crush the limestone with a rolling pin or, even easier, buy it already ground.
Make Ahead and Leftover Instructions
Make a double batch and freeze half of it for later. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge or 4-5 months in the freezer for a taste of home on the fly.
What Pairs With Achu Soup
I love fufu with soup. But you could also serve it with mashed potatoes and freshly made bread. Healthy greens on the side turn this into a full meal.
More Comforting African Soups to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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Achu Soup
Ingredients
The Soup
- 1-2 pounds (450-900g) assorted meat (beef, tripe, cow skin, smoked fish, dried crawfish, etc.)
- salt (½-¾ teaspoon (3-4g) per pound)
- ground red pepper to taste (or a whole scotch bonnet)
- 6-7 cups (1½L) stock (or 6 cups water with 2 tablespoons beef bouillon)
- ½ cup (118ml) red palm oil
- 2 tablespoons (15g) ground achu spice
- 1 tablespoon (10-11g) bouillon powder or Maggi
- 1 tablespoon (10g) ground limestone
Achu Coco
- 4-5 pounds (1.8-2.25kg) cocoyams (taro)
- 2 green bananas or plantains (optional)
- salt to taste
Instructions
Achu Soup
- Add the meat (beef, cow skin, tripe, etc.) to a medium-sized saucepan, season with salt and red pepper, pour in 6 cups of stock (or bouillon and water), and boil until the meat is tender. It can take 30-60 minutes, or longer, depending on the choice of meat. You can cut this process in half with a pressure cooker.
- Remove the meat from the broth and set it aside. Let the stock cool to room temperature. Reserve about 6 cups of broth for the soup, and save (or freeze) the rest for another recipe.
- Heat the red oil just until it becomes liquid in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Pour the stock into a blender, then add the warmed red oil, achu spice, limestone powder, salt, and bouillon powder (or Maggi) and puree until smooth and emulsified. It should turn a beautiful yellow color. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Place the meat in a bowl, and pour the yellow broth over it. Or serve the soup in a cocoyam bowl.
Mashed Cocoyam
- Steam the cocoyam and optional green bananas until tender, no need to peel.
- Rinse in cold water so you can handle them without burning yourself. Remove the peels, and puree the cocoyam and bananas in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Add salt to taste.
- Wrap a scoop of the mixture in banana leaves or plastic wrap, and form it into a log. Or serve them like you would mashed potatoes.
Tips & Notes:
- You can purchase cocoyam (taro) in most Asian, Indian, and African stores.
- Feel free to adjust the amount of hot pepper, even omitting it if desired.
- Achu spice is usually found in African stores, mainly Cameroonian-owned. Amazon also has it. Or replace it with nutmeg and ground pepper.
- Make your broth flavorful. If it’s bland, add more pepper, salt, and bouillon.
- A little bit of smoked fish adds another dimension to this dish. And some people add dried crayfish while boiling the meat.
- The key to a good achu soup is the right combination of limestone and oil (if the soup separates, add a little bit of limestone and pulse again).
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Thank you!! Very easy to follow! My first attempt at Achu and yellow soup, My husband approves only thing is my soup isn’t that yellow (more of a dark yellow / brown) and I think a bit too watery, the oil seems to not have mixed into the stock enough? What can I do better next time? Any tips? X
Thanks for trying the recipe. Sometimes I emulsify it with an immersion blender. That should also lighten up the color.
Thanks for the recipe.i did mine but it was a little bit bitter even after seasoning with salt and maggi.Am I missing anything?
I’m so sorry that happened. I honestly don’t know why it would be bitter. How does your palm (red) oil taste? Sometimes oil gets bitter.
I make this dish often, but I would like to know how to warm achy left over. Thank you!
You can reheat it in the microwave, Esther. 🙂
Thank you!!!! I have loved Achu from childhood but never known how to make it. Now I can! Yay!!!!
Question: is there a way to make the soup thicker? I tend to think mine is too watery…
So happy to hear this . Add a tablespoon or so of the pounded cocoyams to thickened it
Thanks Imma!. Your recipe is perfect!
This is my first time making achu soup-it came out delicious. It’s my first time making the cocoyam in the blender. I have assisted in the pounding before, but it is a serious workout:-) So I decided to try the blender today. It came out perfect.
My aunt(the achu expert in the family) will be very surpised when she comes home to my achu this evening.
My children will be happy with lunch today. Pleasant surprises all around. Thanks again for the recipe!
Hi Larissa!
Thank you, Glad it worked out well .I really appreciate you taking time out to share your thoughts with us . Happy Holidays
I discovered a lovely shop within walking distance that has achu spice. I love taro so this recipe really spoke to me. The flavors warm you soul. I’m making for friends tomorrow!
Do let us know how it works for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you so much for the information provided. I have always wondered how Achu is prepared. Please, can you help with listing out the Achu spices? I do not have any Cameroonian food shop around and I will really like to know the spices to get from my local market. Thanks again.
Hi Precious! So glad to have you here!
The achu species are many and sometimes varied. Truth is I know their traditional names, but this may be unfamiliar to many vendors. Your best bet would be to have the Achu Spice mix.
Thank you very much for taking the mystery ot of this thingfthing for me. First time making yellow soup and it was 100% dope. Its one of my fav dishes and I’ll probably be making it every Sunday. Way easier that I thought.
Awesome! I’m so glad you’ll be making it again. Thank you for taking the time to let me know. Enjoy!