Cooking with Chef Moyo: Slow-Cooked Beef, Banga Sauce & Native Rice
A few weeks ago, to celebrate International Women's Day, we met up with one of Lagos' most exciting new chefs, Moyosore Odunfa. Our goal was twofold: first, to learn more about the chef and ATIJE Experience founder, and second, to join her in preparing one of her signature dishes.
Like many others in the culinary world, her journey into the industry started simply – with a desire to make people happy with food. However, unlike many others, she has not only been trained in kitchens from Switzerland to Abu Dhabi but also holds a Bachelor's in Culinary Arts. That's what you call putting your money where your mouth is.
Chef and The ATIJE Experience Founder, Moyosore Odunfa
After years spent refining her skills abroad, returning home, and working at ITAN Test Kitchen, she launched ATIJE, a unique private dining experience designed to encourage the exploration of Nigerian cuisine in new ways. A night at an ATIJE pop-up might mean you'll find Strawberry Barbecue Sauce and Yaji Tacos, Ayamase Meat Pies, or even a bowl full of Baileys Chin Chin on the menu. It's all about creating art with food, physically demonstrating that cuisine in this part of the world is just as diverse and fun to manipulate as the rest of the globe's, and that ultimately, Nigerian food and 'fine dining' aren't – and shouldn't be – mutually exclusive words.
But back to why Chef Moyo welcomed us into her kitchen – to chat and enjoy the incredibly delicious Slow-Cooked Beef, Banga Sauce, and Native Rice, with Plantain Crisps and a Ribbon Slaw. A meal everyone should try at least once.
Slow-cooked Tozo Beef
Chef Moyo’s signature Native Rice
The chef began by slow-cooking the tozo (a fattier cut of beef, famous for being one of the most flavorful parts of a cow) in a combination of herbs and spices. Next up was preparing a quick slaw of ribboned cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce to complement the rice and meat elements.
She then prepared the base for the Native Rice, blending a mix of onions, iru, ugba, and a few other spices, which would later be added to a sizzling mixture of hot palm oil and a traditional Nigerian pepper blend. The mixture is seasoned (no MSG in sight) and allowed to fry on medium-high heat until it loses most of its moisture and the oil rises to the surface. At this point, her Abakaliki rice (known for adding flavor and texture that regular rice can't provide) is ready to go in and steam into a delicious Jollof.
But the Banga sauce is really the star of the show. Chef Moyo produces a prepped, packaged, and sealed bag from the freezer of homemade palm fruit extract that's the most gorgeous nearly-golden color. She slowly defrosts, seasons, and stirs this extract, adding in a tomato blend and the all-important yellow peppers (what's a good Nigerian soup without it), and then pours the mixture into a blender to smooth. It'll go back on the heat to continue thickening, patiently awaiting the tozo.
The chunks of beef are salted on both sides, seared in a shallow layer of cooking oil, and left to rest for a few minutes before going into the silky smooth Banga sauce for a good, slow bath. On the side, she's prepared two different cuts of plantain — one unripe and the other ripe — using a somewhat intimidating mandoline slicer (for thin strips) and a crinkle-wavy potato cutter (for a nice design on the plantain cubes).
Chef Moyo frying cubed plantain
Two different styles of plantain
It was time to assemble it all, and although I'd gladly have gobbled all of it up directly from the pan, I waited patiently as Chef Moyo plated up the whole meal like a true pro. The Native Rice, beef, sauce, and plantain were presented beautifully in a clay pot (which, naturally, gives the meal an authentic seal of approval), topped with fresh basil, lemongrass, and yellow alder we'd picked just a few minutes before from her impressive garden. To go with it is the simple ribbon slaw in a smaller pot.
As I said, it's a meal everyone should try at least once. The Native Rice had a good texture (not too soft) and its flavors really came through, the beef was tender and very well-seasoned, and as a first-time Banga eater, let's just say Chef Moyo has successfully converted me. I'm a big fan of Nigerian soups, and this sauce delivered on every level — great taste, a lovely velvety texture and worked so well with the flavour of the rice.
The salad was also fresh and tied in nicely with the whole meal, balancing things out with a more neutral, less intense flavour, while the variation in plantain styles made the overall eating experience that much more interesting.
Tozo in Banga Sauce
The full meal
I've neither been able to get my mind off that Banga nor what a fun day of experimenting, trading cooking stories, and learning it was. Chef Moyo is incredibly passionate about food, knows her stuff, and is, without question, an asset to the industry.
