I can’t be the only one who goes to bed looking forward to a particular meal for the next day. Sometimes I start the meal prep for a particular dish the day before just to save cooking time.
Sometimes it’s a spur of the moment thing, like my mind just remembers, oh i haven’t had this in a while. Then I mentally scan my pantry for what ingredients I have, what I don’t have, nearest place to get them all lined up in my head as I go to bed.
That’s what happened with this. Some muscle memory resurrected the taste of this soup in my head last night, I soaked the groundnuts and went to bed, with today’s lunch fully planned. This went down with correct pounded yam.
This is Groundnut Soup. This style of cooking groundnut soup is popular in some parts of Cameroon, Togo and Benin, I’ve been told also in some parts of Calabar close to the Cameroons too.
It’s made by peeling raw groundnuts, boiling them slightly and blending with garlic.
The aroma is beautiful and very fragrant. The vegetable used here is Ugu.
Recipe
- 2 Cups Raw Groundnut
- 8 – 12 single cloves of garlic
- 200g sliced Ugu leaves (about two small bunches)
- 1 cup blitzed peppers (use your preferred mix of peppers, it could include tomatoes)
- 1 medium sized onion diced
- Cooked Assorted Meats and smoked fish
- 2 cooked rich beef stock.
- 1 tbsp crayfish powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 or 2 seasoning cubes (you can adjust this)
- 1.5 cup vegetable oil
Procedure
- Soak and peel skin groundnuts of groundnuts.
- Boil groundnuts for about 10 minutes. Don’t skip this step or you will have raw tasting groundnut soup.
- Blend the groundnuts with garlic to a puree.
- Heat up oil in a pot and fry diced onions.
- Add blitzed peppers, fry for about 7 minutes of low medium heat
- Add groundnut paste stir in, add beef stock, crayfish, salt and seasoning cubes.
- Allow to cook with lid on for about 10 minutes.
- Add meats and smoked fish
- Cook till the water reduces down. You might need to stir to prevent the soup sticking the pot bottom and burning.
- Lastly add vegetables and stir in. Turn heat down to low.
- Allow to simmer for 3 minutes and turn heat off.
- Serve with your favourite carb accompaniment
Ounje Aladun 