National Dish Equatorial Guinea: Akwadu (Recipe)
In this article
Akwadu is four ingredients and twenty-five minutes: ripe plantains split lengthways, buttered, scattered with brown sugar and coconut, and baked until the sugar caramelises and the coconut toasts. A squeeze of lime keeps it from being cloying. It is the standard sweet ending to a meal in Equatorial Guinea.
About Akwadu
Akwadu is a sweet dessert from Equatorial Guinea, built on the combination of baked plantains, desiccated coconut and sugar. Finished with a squeeze of lime juice, it rounds off festive meals as a sweet close. The dish requires almost nothing in the way of technique, the oven does the work, turning firm plantain soft and the sugar into caramel.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 3 ripe plantains
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
- Juice of ½ lime
- A pinch of cinnamon
Shopping for the ingredients
The plantains must be properly ripe, the skin should be yellow with substantial black patches, and a green plantain will be starchy and disappointing. Unsweetened desiccated coconut is what you want; sweetened flakes make the dish sickly. Fresh grated coconut is better still if you can get it.
Preparing the dish
Heat the oven to 190°C and butter a baking dish. Peel the plantains. They do not peel like bananas, so cut off the ends, score the skin lengthways and lever it away. Halve them lengthways and lay them cut side up in the dish.
Step-by-step instructions
- Heat the oven to 190°C and butter a baking dish.
- Peel the plantains and halve them lengthways.
- Lay them cut side up in the dish in a single layer.
- Dot with the butter or coconut oil.
- Squeeze over the lime juice.
- Scatter with the brown sugar, coconut and cinnamon.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes until the plantains are soft and the coconut is golden.
- Serve warm, spooning the caramel from the dish over the top.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Akwadu is naturally gluten-free. Use coconut oil in place of butter and it is lactose-free too, which is also the more traditional choice, given how much coconut is grown on Bioko and the mainland coast.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
With coconut oil instead of butter, akwadu is fully vegan. Nothing else needs changing, and the coconut oil arguably suits the dish better than the butter does.
More tips and tricks
Use plantains that look almost too ripe, the blacker the skin, the sweeter the result and the shorter the baking time. Watch the coconut in the last five minutes, since it goes from golden to burnt quickly. And serve it warm; cold akwadu loses most of its appeal.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Orange juice can replace the lime for a rounder sweetness. A splash of rum turns it into something considerably more adult. Chopped peanuts scattered over the top add crunch and are entirely in keeping with the region.
Ingredient substitutions
Very ripe bananas work if plantains are unavailable, though they collapse more and need less time. Honey or palm sugar substitutes for the brown sugar. Fresh grated coconut is better than desiccated whenever it can be found.
Drink pairing ideas
Strong black coffee balances the sweetness well. Coconut water alongside it doubles down on the flavour and is refreshing. A dark rum is the classic pairing for baked plantain anywhere in the tropics.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve akwadu warm straight from the dish, spooning the pooled caramel over each portion. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is a modern addition that works extremely well. It also makes a very good breakfast, which nobody in Equatorial Guinea would object to.
A bit of history
Plantains and coconut are the two crops that define the cooking of the Gulf of Guinea, and akwadu combines them in the simplest possible way. Equatorial Guinea’s cuisine draws on Fang, Bubi and Spanish colonial influences, and this dessert belongs to the West African rather than the European side of that inheritance. It offers a genuine window onto Equatorial Guinean cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Akwadu
Akwadu is ripe plantains baked with brown sugar, coconut, butter and lime until soft and caramelised. Twenty-five minutes in the oven, and one of West Africa’s easiest desserts.
