Guyanese Metemgee (metem or mettagee)

Guyanese Metemgee (metem/mettagee) is a hearty stew of root vegetables and dumplings simmered in a rich coconut milk broth with aromatics and fresh herbs. Serve this traditional Guyanese dish as comfort food on cold days or whenever the craving strikes.

Guyanese Metemgee

Metemgee is one of my favorite dishes that my late grandmother made when I was growing up. This is why I named my blog metemgee. Although I started my blog in 2013, I did not share my metemgee recipe until 2017 because I wanted to get it as close to hers as possiblw before sharing.

This recipe takes me right back to my childhood and days of visiting my grandmother in West Ruimveldt. She had the skill of cooking the coconut milk until the fat separated and curdled. This is a sign of great metemgee. I can finally do this with my stove top and instant pot method of making this dish.

What you should know about this Recipe

• It Takes Time: The actual dish doesn’t take much time to make, but all of the components to serve it can be a whole day cooking marathon. It is worth it!
• Ultimate Comfort Food: Warm your body and your soul with this beloved Guyanese dish that’s chock full of ground provision and duff (Guyanese steamed dumplings), drenched in a flavorful, thick and creamy coconut milk sauce. It’s a filling meal that will leave you feeling satisfied.
• Perfect Family Meal: This traditional stew is ideal for sharing. This isn’t a quick meal but definitely the kind you want to sit down, savor, and enjoy with loved ones.
• Totally Customizable: As long as you have ground provisions and creamy coconut milk broth, it’s metemgee so have fun with add-ons and flavors. I’ll give you a few suggestions!

What is Guyanese Metemgee?

Guyanese metemgee (metem/mettagee) is a thick soup or stew made with root vegetables cooked in a rich coconut milk broth. According to an article in the Stabroek Newspaper Metemgee (from the Twi metem = plantains or bananas; gye = to delight) is a meal prepared by boiling together various root vegetables with pieces of salted meat in coconut milk. In many Guyanese households however, it is made meatless and then served with fried or steamed fish or stewed salted fish.

Ingredients for Metemgee

The key to this metemgee recipe is quality ground provisions and coconut milk. I share my suggested ingredients and substitutions so you can make your best metemgee yet!

• Ground Provisions: love sweet yellow plantains, cassava (yuca), sweet potatoes and eddoes (malanga) in my metemgee but feel free to use any starchy root vegetable that you can access. 
• Aromatics: yellow onion, grated garlic
• Wiri wiri peppers: This fiery chili well known in Guyanese cooking, has a hint of fruity flavor.
• Thyme: Fresh or dried thyme adds herby flavor. Use Guyanese or Portuguese thyme for a bolder flavor pay off.
• Whole coconut: Use three whole coconuts to make thick and creamy coconut milk.
• Water: Mixed with coconut milk for the base of your broth.
• Seasoning: Scallions, salt and black pepper.

See recipe card for quantities.

What is the secret to good metemgee?

Fresh coconut milk is really the secret to good metemgee. Most canned coconut milk contains gums and preservatives that keep the milk from curdling and separating when cooking. This is great for other coconut broth dishes but not for metemgee. Use fresh coconut milk for the best metemgee. When fresh coconut milk is boiled to a reduction, the curdles separate and the coconut oil floats to the top of the broth.

This is why the best metemgee has white coconut milk curdles. These little curdles is a tell tale sign of good metemgee. Click here to see my tips for finding a good dry (brown) coconut. 

How to Make Metemgee

Preparing the Ground Provisions

Peeling ground provisions or root vegetables can be a tedious task, even with a vegetable peeler. Therefore, I love using a paring knife instead of a vegetable peeler for this task, especially when peeling cassava (yuca).

Once I’ve peeled all of my root vegetables I cut them into uniform pieces to allow for even boiling. It takes longer for some root vegetables to cook so I cook those first. For example, Cassavas need to be cooked first. To prevent the other vegetables from turning brown, I soak them in a water bath until I need to add them to the dish.

How to Peel Cassava

To peel the cassava, use a paring knife to crate a slit in the cassava peel. Then slip the tip of the knife under the peel and move the blade under and around the space between the peel and the flesh until the peel is completely off.

Cooking the Metemgee/Mettagee

Add your fresh coconut milk to a large or deep pot, then add the pot to high heat. Add your onions, garlic, salt and bring to a boil. Then add in your root veggies in order of time required for cooking. For example if using cassava, add that first and let it cook for 10 minutes before adding all the other root veggies.

Once the cassava is half cooked, I add the remaining ground provision (root veggies) and seasoning.

I mix to combine everything and continue to cook until all of the ground provisions are fork tender and the broth reduces to a thick creamy sauce with some coconut milk fat curdles.

How to Make Duff for Metemgee

In Guyana we call steamed dumplings duff. Duff is a key component of metemgee. These fluffy steamed dumplings are a great addition to an already delicious dish. The buttery melt in your mouth texture of the duff when dipped in the coconut milk broth really feels like home to me. You can find my fail proof duff recipe here.

Add your duff directly on top of the metemgee, cover and let them steam for 15 minutes before removing from the pot. Do not open the pot before the duff is fully cooked or they will fall and become dense and flat.

Substitutions & Variations

• Ground Provisions. There is no right or wrong combination of ground provisions or root vegetables for metemgee so use whatever you like. Cassava, plantains, eddoes, yam, malanga, Japanese sweet potatoes, taro, okro or pumpkin are just a few options. Be careful with American sweet potatoes adding too many may cause the metemgee to taste really sweet.
• Meat. You can add salt fish or salted pig tails to the metemgee broth. Be sure to boil both out first to remove some of the salt before adding to the metemgee. If using salted meats, skip the salt in this recipe.
• Spice. Habanero peppers are a great substitute for wiri wiri peppers.

What to do if you can’t make your own coconut milk?

Don’t have access to dried (brown) coconuts where you live? Can’t make fresh coconut milk? Then don’t make metemgee. Just kidding. You can use some of the alternative below, but the same may not have the traditional curdled look, but will still be delish! Here are some alternatives that work well with this recipe:

1. Frozen shredded coconut: This is my second favorite option for coconut milk used in Guyanese recipes. Defrost the frozen coconut completely then add it to a blender with water, blend then strain off the coconut milk. It is the closest thing to fresh coconut milk and works really well with this recipe. 
2. Canned Coconut milk: As a last resort you may use canned coconut milk, diluted with water in a 1:5 ratio. Use 1 cup of canned coconut milk (shaken well before opening) with 5 cups of water.

How to Serve Metemgee

Metemgee garnishes vary depending on where you live/d in Guyana. For instance, most Guyanese eat metemgee with fried fish and duff. Others have it with steamed fish, stewed fish, sautéed salt fish or other even meats like beef. My husband’s family adds a boiled egg to their metemgee and of course that is now an option when I serve metemgee.

Here are some items that are traditionally served with metemgee:

• Duff (steamed dumplings): sometimes duff is made separately from the metemgee but it is almost always served together. Please click here for my duff recipe. 
• Fish:  Fried fish is the most popular garnish for metemgee, but you can also serve it with steamed, stewed or sautéed salt.
• Boiled Eggs: A nice fluffy 8-minute boiled egg is my preference here but if you like a Jammy 6-minute boiled egg that would work well here too.
• Steamed Okra/Ochro: Some people add steamed okra/ochro to their metemgee but I am not a fan of slimy okra. I love crispy fried okra. 

Equipment

• Blender: You will need this for homemade coconut milk.
• Large Pot: To contain the stew.

Tips for the Best Metemgee

• Cut the provisions to roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
• Be very stingy with the amount of water you add to metemgee. It should just barely cover the provisions. It is not meant to be a thin broth but a very thick stew-like broth.
• Cooking time may vary depending on how long it takes for your cassava to cook to the correct tenderness.
• Plantains cook faster than the other ground provisions so add them later or take them out as soon as they are fork tender. I like to add them just before I add the duff.
• Once the duff is added, leave the pot undisturbed. Peeking may cause the duff to “fall”, making them dense and not light and fluffy.

Leftovers

Metemgee is best enjoyed fresh. It doesn’t last long because of the coconut milk. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than 2 days.

Frequently Asked Questions