CocoCorMato Broth & Okra

Written by Amani Ali 

The CocoCorMato (coconut-corn-tomato) broth is inspired by a vegan tom kha recipe that Sarah found. It uses corn cobs and coconut milk as the foundation. It started as an experiment. She was curious: What would it taste like? Would it have enough flavor? Would it be too sweet? She started a batch with corn, coconut milk, lemongrass, mushrooms, and some herbs. 

A couple days later, she took that batch and added tomato sauce. Great, we’re building up depth of flavor! On a chef’s intuitive whim, she added berbere seasoning and that’s when the broth became something beautiful. 

The result of this experiment is CocoCorMato broth. The finished product is lusciously smooth, delicious, and drinkable as is, and we were both excited to cook with it. We had pounds of red and green okra, so we chose that as the vehicle. 

That okra and tomato reminded me of bamia, a Middle Eastern lamb dish stewed with okra and tomato. Secondly, when I was in Egypt this summer, my favorite dish of the entire trip was stewed tomatoes and okra. Here it is pictured on a buffet plate. 

A buffet plate with stewed okra (bamia) and other foods.

The dish that I made crosses cultures but the flavors are highly complementary. In regular CSG fashion, I used what I had available to create this flavor combination. I had some Maesri red curry paste (Mae Ploy makes my favorite curry paste but it’s not always easy to find) and coconut milk left over from another dish. Naturally, serving this up with coconut rice makes sense. 

Ingredients

• 4 cups CocoCorMato Broth

• 1 lb okra 

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped

• 3 anchovies

• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste 

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

For rice: 

• Half can (7 oz) of coconut milk

• Water (we need 3 cups of liquid, including the coconut milk, in total)

• 2 cups jasmine rice

• Pinch of salt

Steps

1. Wash and rinse the rice to remove excess starch.

2. Pour the coconut milk into a measuring cup and top it off with water until you have 3 cups.

3. Cook the rice in a pot or rice cooker. 

4. Sautee the garlic with anchovies, tomato paste, and curry paste in a high-sided pan on medium heat. Break down the anchovies into small pieces in the pan. 

5. Add the broth and okra and mix well.

6. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer then cover the pan. The dish is ready in about 17-20 minutes, when the okra is tender and the rice is cooked. 

7. Scoop up the okra and broth and serve over coconut rice. 

CocoCorMato (coconut-corn-tomato) broth with okra served over coconut jasmine rice.

Nutrition Nook: 

Okra is a staple crop brought to the Southern United States from Africa by enslaved peoples. It is a high-fiber superfood. This “vegetable” grows as a flower seed pod, and as such, it is technically classified as a fruit. 

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