St. Kitts Okra Cou-Cou

My mother and great-grandmother put okra on our family table long before it reached super food status. This dish is a vegan twist on a family classic. Read more about what inspired this dish below. (Photo source: Brenna Van Skiver)

| Yield: 4-6 servings | Time: 30 minutes |

Ingredients

2 cups yellow cornmeal

5 ½ cups water (divided)

3 cups sliced fresh okra or 2 packages frozen cut okra

½ teaspoon kosher or table salt

Notes: You can make cou-cou richer by using a combination of 2 ½ cups of unsweetened full-fat or light coconut milk and 2 ½ cups of water.

Preparation

In a large bowl, stir cornmeal and 2 ½ cups of water until smooth. Set aside.

If using fresh okra, slice the pods into even-sized pieces. Wear gloves to protect your hands from the prickly skin. If using frozen okra, put it straight into the pot.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan bring 2 ½ cups of water and salt to a boil. Add the okra and continue to boil for two minutes.

While the okra is boiling, pour in the cornmeal mixture and stir constantly until combined. Be careful—cornmeal tends to splatter. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking and stirring for five minutes while the mixture thickens. If you’d like, add a little water to thin it to your desired consistency.

To serve, divide the cou-cou into individual ramekins or serve family style in a large bowl. Serve hot, topped with a little unsalted vegan butter.

The inspiration for this okra dish: There was a time when you could only find okra on southern and Caribbean tables, which makes sense given that it was brought over by enslaved Africans. Okra has long been a staple in Western and South African diets.

Okra is high in fiber, magnesium, antioxidants, vitamins C, K, and A. Moreover, okra contains protein and can help lower cholesterol. Absolutely none of this is news to me. Both my mother and great-grandmother put okra on our family table a long before it reached super food status.

My mother loves okra. I remember her slicing up the pods, lightly frying them in a pan, and putting them on bread for a sandwich. But she had a special place in her heart for okra fried in cornmeal or sorghum flour. As a little girl she was chased by her grandmother Nandy’s turkeys whenever she went to pick the pods.

My other culinary introduction to okra came from my paternal great-grandmother, Sarah, who we called Nana. She grew up the oldest of four children in St. Kitts when the main industry on the island was sugar cane. Workers toiled for long hours with very little pay. Islanders needed to make their food dollar stretch to feed their families and, cou-cou, which is also called Caribbean polenta, did just that.

~Chamein Canton, an author and founder of the Canton Smith literary agency, is at work on her first cookbook, Cooking with My Nanas: Discovering Family, Traditions, and Love In The Kitchen. Find more of her recipes—and stories—at stillachicklit.com; @chamtherese (TikTok); @stillachicklit (Instagram)