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Fufu, Ghana, West Africa

Ghana Staples: Peanut Soup and Fufu

A great place to step into West African cuisine is with the Ghana staples of peanut soup and fufu. Throughout the region, you’ll find a variety of spins on the peanut soup, but all will be accompanied by the food and doubles as a side and utensil. After preparing the soup, scoop of some fufu with your hands and dig into the peanut soup.

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By Kwameghana (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fufu Recipe

Fufu
 
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West African, Ghana staple
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds yams (or and equal amount yams to plantains)
  • 1 teaspoon butter
Instructions
  1. Places yams in cold water and bring to a boil.
  2. Boil the yams until they are soft, about 30 minutes.
  3. Remove the pot from heat. Cool yams with running water.
  4. Drain all of the water.
  5. Remove peels from yams.
  6. Put the yams back into the pot or a bowl. Mash the yams with a masher or a spoon until smooth.(This part can take two people: one to hold the bowl and the other to stir. The fufu is tough!)
  7. Shape fufu into balls and serve immediately. Use the fufu to scoop up meat and sauce.
 

 

Peanut soup, Ghana, West Africa, Recipes, tropics, tropical, TropicsGourmet

(Photo: Flickr Meal Makeover Moms)

Ghana Peanut Soup Recipe

Peanut Soup
 
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Ingredients
  • ¼ cup oil, vegetable or olive
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 hot chili pepper
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup natural peanut butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
  1. Using a saucepan, warm the oil over a medium flame.
  2. Cook the onions until translucent.
  3. Add garlic and cook for two minutes.
  4. Add bell pepper, carrots, hot chili pepper, and tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes.
  5. Add chicken stock and reduce soup to a simmer for 15 minutes or until everything is tender.
  6. Add peanut butter. Simmer for five minutes, stirring often.
  7. Stew should be thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
 

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Wendy is the content manager for TropicsGourmet. Her long list of titles includes social media strategist, certified Reiki practitioner, and professional ukulele performer.