Lakotokoto: It's taste depends on additional ingredients

With a refreshing taste of seasame seeds commonly refered to as simsim that is further blended by the ingredients it is mixed with, lakotokoto stands alongside Dek ngoo, boo, and malakwang as traditional dishes that have stood the test of time in Acholi.

Preparation
To get good quality, one needs to look for fresh and clean simsim or wash it clean to remove the bitter taste.

Some people also suggest that the simsim should be slightly pounded and threshed to remove the outer shells by winnowing. This, they say is credited for the whitish look when it is cooked, as opposed to that blackish look in case it is not washed, in some cases.

After prior identification of clean simsim, the next process is grinding. This can either be done using a grinding machine or the traditional grinding stone.

It should be ground slightly to prevent it from completely turning into a paste, but also to remove tiny visible particles of the seeds.

After this, one can boil hot water for pressing the ground simsim.

After ensuring that the simsim has been fully ground, then slightly, hot water can be poured on it. This should be carefully applied in a balanced proportion, so that the lump of ground simsim is not consumed by too much water.

Fifty-seven-year-old Ventorino Akumu, who has been cooking the lakotokoto dish since she was young, explains that the hot water, as opposed to cold one, is applied to ease the process of pressing it to remove the oily part.

After ensuring that the whole lump of the ground simsim has been pressed and clear of oil, you can pour the oil part into a separate container.

After this process, one can then start rounding the ground simsim into small balls before spreading them into a container, ready for cooking. In other cases, some people mix the ground simsim with soda ash or magadi to make sure it retains its taste and remains fresh.

However, Evaline Achora of Montana Hotel in Gulu town says they prepare it by slightly pressing the oil but not separating it from the ground simsim. This, she argues, is to prevent the dish from becoming from becoming bitter.

Most people however argue that the bitter taste comes from the type of simsim one uses to make lakotokoto.

“That is why it is important that you take precaution while buying the simsim from the market. Where possible, taste it to avoid disappointment of that bitter taste when the dish is cooked,” says Goretti Akullo of Binen Restaurant in Gulu.

When this process is over, water is boiled before ingredients of someone’s choice and taste are added, including onions, tomatoes for the case of boiled lakotokoto. However, in case one wants to fry it, one can fry the onions and tomatoes using either the lakotokoto oil or any available cooking oil.

When all this is done, the lump of ground lakotokoto is slightly poured on the boiling water. After about 20 minutes, salt is applied. However, caution should be taken to ensure that it does not have too much water, just enough to prevent it from getting burnt.

You can leave it cooking for some time, at least an hour. And to retain the aroma, it can be covered as it steams in the fire.

After these processes, any mixture can be done and this case, the most common is boiled dry fish. Other restaurants like Binen mix it with beef or offals, depending on a customer’s preference. But this is only put separately.

When the lakotokoto dish is ready, it can be served with millet dough (kwon kal or kalo), sweet potatoes and cassava flour dough, which are the most common accompaniments. However, other food options can be applicable depending on one’s taste and preference.

Whats in a name?
Most people think the name lakotokoto that is quite a mouthful to pronounce for non-natives of northern Uganda, is derived from the sounds the food makes when it is cooking. It’s the syllabic confusion that leaves makes some people bite their tongue. Alternatively, one can separate it into five syllables thus: ‘la-ko-to-ko-to’ before combining the word.

[email protected]