Malagasy Romazava is the national dish of Madagascar. It is a meat stew filled with a combination of green leafy vegetables. It is served over rice which is a staple at every meal. When invited to eat in Madagascar they say “Manasa Hihinam-bary!” which literally means “let’s eat rice.” The dishes that are served with rice are considered to be the side dishes and called laoka. This dish is hearty made with beef, chicken and pork. In Madagascar the beef would be zebu. In trying to make this dish authentic it was a bit of a challenge. The greens used in this dish are mustard greenswhich was not a problem. A green called anamamy is very similar to spinach so a reasonably easy substitute. However I could not find paracress. This is sometimes called the toothache plant because of its numbing affect like a local anesthetic. It has a peppery taste so we used arugula as the substitute but felt certain we didn’t get the full enjoyment of the dish without the paracress. It was a delightful stew nonetheless and the condiment sakay is what makes the dish come alive. Enjoy!
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 1lb.beef chuck cut into bite size pieces
- 1 pork loin chop, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken or beef stock
- ½ large yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2½ " of ginger, peeled and minced
- 3 serrano chilies, minced
- 1 bunch mustard greens, chopped
- 1 combination bag or baby spinach and arugula or a bunch or each
- salt and pepper to taste.
- In a large dutch oven heat the oil and brown the beef on all sides.
- Add the tomatoes, stock, onion, chilies, garlic and ginger and bring to a simmer.
- Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low and let stew for about 30 minutes
- Add in the pork and the chicken pieces and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover for another 10-15 minutes.
- Add in the greens, it will seem like too much greens but they wilt down quickly.
- cover and stew for another 10 minutes
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve over steamed white rice and be sure to have some sakay on hand as that is what makes the dish delicious!
