Lungelo’s “Midlands” Meaty Bones Samp Recipe

Lungelo Mbele’s Midlands Meaty Bone Samp / Kathy Pitout Photography

“As a family, samp has always been close to our hearts because we regard it as a traditional dish. It is presented at every single event. My recipe for you is special to me because my mom would make when I was still a child. Being away from her now, it felt right to make a dish that reminded me of home. Samp and bones is a very warm dish - it is a hug on a plate, and it embodies my mom who is a beautiful warm mother, always there for a hug at the end of the day. ”

— Lungelo Mbele

Lungelo’s “Midlands” Meaty Bones Samp

Yields: 10 portions

Ingredients:

63 ml vegetable oil
1, 13 kg “Midlands” meaty bones
3,4 l water
711g samp
2 onions (finely diced)
3 garlic cloves (finely diced)
1 tsp caraway
3 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp smoked salt
4 tsp chili beef aromat

Method:

Put the burner on high and in a hot medium pot, add 15 ml of the oil.
Add in the bones and allow them to brown on all sides.
Boil 1,7 litres of water in a kettle and fill the pot with the boiling water once all sides of the beef bones have browned.
Into the browned beef bones with the boiling water, add the unsoaked samp. Reduce the heat on the stove to medium heat.
In a separate small pot, heat up the remaining 48 ml of oil.
Add in the finely diced onions and garlic into the small pot with the hot oil.
Once the onions have caramelised, add the caraway.
After letting the caraway release its flavours add in all the spices (smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked salt and chili beef aromat)
When all the flavours have combined in the onion and spices mixture, 3 minutes, add it to the samp, the samp should not be edible at that stage. If the water is not covering the samp, add more to cover.
Check the samp every 30 minutes to see if it is in need of more water (the water should always cover the samp).
After 2 ½ hours of cooking the samp, place it in the ‘Wonderbag’ for at least 3 hours or overnight for it to continue cooking.
When it is done remove it from the ‘Wonderbag’, stir and taste. Adjust salt to taste.
Serve hot.