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two cups of porridge on a tray
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Haitian Akasan (Cornmeal Drink)(Vegan)

Bring a taste of Haiti to your home by learning how to make this vegan rendition of Akasan. A popular porridge like drink made from yellow corn flour, star anise, cinnamon and plant based milk.
Course Caribbean dishes
Cuisine Haitian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 121kcal
Author Charla

Ingredients

  • 4 cups water (946ml)
  • 3 star anise
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 cup yellow corn flour + 1¼ cup of water (to make the paste)
  • ½-¾ cup almond milk or you can use another plant based milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (0.5g)grated
  • ¼ teaspoon pink salt (1.5g)
  • sweeten with coconut sugar, to taste or use another alternative sweetener, see notes
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Bring the 4 cups of water to the boil in a medium sized, non stick saucepan along with the star anise and cinnamon sticks for 10 minutes until the water is slightly red-brown colour.
  • Mix the one cup of cornflour together with the 1¼ cup of water in a small bowl/jug.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the cornflour paste to the saucepan while whisking to avoid any lumps.
  • Continue to simmer for several minutes, while constantly stirring until the akasan starts to thicken up.
  • Stir in the almond milk (add the full ¾ cup or more for a thinner consistency).
  • Add the vanilla extract, nutmeg and pink salt
  • Add the coconut sugar or another sweetener and sweeten to taste.
  • Serve hot or cold.

Video

Notes

    • When adding the cinnamon sticks and star anise make sure the water is boiling before moving onto the next step. You should be able to smell the spices!
    • Keep in mind, depending on what part of the world you are from yellow cornflour might be known as maize flour or cornmeal, you want the one that is YELLOW and ground/very fine in texture.
    • If you are using ground cinnamon and star anise, use 1 teaspoon of star anise and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.
    • I recommend using a whisk when stirring to avoid any lumps.
    • Keep the heat medium-low, while you simmer and stir, don't be tempted to increase the heat to high or it may start to sputter which can burn the skin.
    • Be sure to use a non stick, sturdy saucepan.
    • Keep stirring the saucepan until the content starts to thicken up.
    • Mix the cornflour with part water. You want to make a paste first before adding any cornflour. This is done to avoid your Akasan from becoming lumpy. Remember to stir continuously as you add the paste to the saucepan.
    • Once you have made your akasan, feel free to add more vegan milk or water, if you want a thinner consistency.
    • Plant based milk. The original recipe calls for animal milk (evaporated milk) so feel free to use almond milk instead
    • Sweeten to taste. I only used about ¼ or ⅓ of a cup of coconut sugar. Sweetness is really down to the preference of the individual, so you decide!
    • You can use raw cane sugar, stevia or even agave nectar !!

Nutrition

Calories: 121kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 9IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 1mg