Braised Tajerblad / tayerblad ⋆ recipe via SOULFOOD.nl ⋆ (VEGAN)

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Tajerblad is a vegetable with which you can go in all directions. This leafy vegetable itself has a very mild taste and you could say that it 'fits with everything'. Because it is so soft, I believe that a recipe with it should not be too complicated or too spicy. Of course we don't want to overshadow the tajerblad with other ingredients. In this recipe we therefore stew it very briefly (because cooking until there is still a paste at the bottom of the pan is also a shame!) with some red palm oil, onion and mild spices.

For those who are not yet familiar with the tajer leaf: it is the leaf of the tajer plant. (Joh…) Incidentally, that is not exactly the same plant that the pom tayer comes from, but it is a species from the same family. Do you want it very specific? It is the leaf of the Xanthosoma Brasiliense.

It has different names in different countries, some of them are: Tajer leaf, elephant ear (because of the beautiful shape of the leaf, of course!) tayer leaf, tajawiri, butter leaf, Surinamese spinach, Tahitian spinach (English), daun kimpul (Malay).

Where can you find tajerblad?

You can find the vegetable in most Surinamese and African tokos. The large Chinese supermarkets also usually have it in their range. There you will find it with African products.

This recipe is for 4 people, doubling or halving is fine by the way!

Ingredients:

500 gr tajer leaf
1 tbsp red palm oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp soft spices*

* For the spices I used the well-known jar 'Complete Seasoningfrom the Badia brand. This spice mix is perhaps the most used ingredient on the Antilles. It is a mix of different vegetables (onion, garlic) and spices (celery, parsley, thyme). The mix also contains salt and flavor enhancers. It tastes a bit like the spices in herb butter.

Are you not using this mix? Then add 1 crumbled stock cube to the dish OR use 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder and some freshly chopped celery.

tajerblad tayerblad tayawiri recipe soulfood

Preparation stewed tajerblad

Start by washing and cleaning the tajer blade. To do this, wash the leaves well, preferably with a soft sponge. This is because the leaves are water-repellent and so they need a little force to get clean. Then you can remove the stems. Some people remove them altogether, but I like the top (thin) bits quite a bit. I therefore choose to remove the stems from the point that they are 'open', about half way.

Then roll the tajer leaves together like a good Cuban cigar and cut them into strips. Then cut the strips in half, so that you get nice pieces of leaves of about 3 × 1 cm.

Then heat the palm oil and sunflower oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onion for a few minutes until it is translucent. Add the tajer leaf to this, along with the spices you are using.

Turn the heat up a bit and simmer for about 5 minutes. The tajer leaf will shrink, just like spinach. The palm oil gives it a nice shine and gives it a bit of a golden color.

It is important not to stew this dish for too long. 5 minutes is really more than enough. Finally, serve the stewed tajerblad with rice or potatoes and meat, fish or another protein source. - Enjoy your dinner!

How we served the tajerblad

We ate the stewed tajer leaf with fried potatoes; regular and purple truffle potatoes – they look spectacular, don't they? By the way, they just taste the same as the others… so you mainly do it for the color. The potatoes are seasoned with pepper, salt, dill and some barbecue spices.

In addition, a plate of scrambled egg with curry, tomato and spring onion. For this you use (for 4 people) 8 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp masala/curry powder, 3 spring onions and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Heat some oil in the pan and add the eggs, salt and curry. Fry the eggs until they break into pieces. Then add the spring onion and tomatoes and fry them for a few more minutes. And you eat all the way vegan† Then you can replace the eggs with tofu – just as delicious!