Dennis Ombachi, who posts as the Roaming Chef, uploaded an Instagram reel on Tuesday, September 29, featuring a deliberately burnt ugali and bitter sukuma wiki meant to echo the meals served in Kenyan boarding schools.

The clip was filmed on a high‑rise balcony with a city skyline in the background and follows a mock‑tutorial format, deliberately scorching the pot and cooking the greens in the same water without washing them first.

Ombachi roughly chops the sukuma wiki, tosses it into a pre‑heated pot and ensures the bottom layer burns before the greens finish, describing the result as an authentic smoky vegan barbecue flavour.

He then adds maize meal to boiling water, stirring vigorously while explaining that the aim is to overcook the ugali yet leave it undercooked, a contradiction he says was perfected by high‑school cooks.

At the end of the video, Ombachi’s son tastes the dish, reacts with amusement and remarks that it is genuinely good, prompting a flood of comments from Kenyans recalling their own boarding‑school experiences.

Ombachi said the stunt was partly motivated by his son’s desire to attend boarding school, describing it as an attempt to transfer generational trauma in the hope that fear might deter his child.