West African Peanut Stew recipe

[xraytheenforcer]

So, the peanut soup ended up being really tasty. Of course, if you hate peanuts/peanut butter (or you're zakalwe7   and despite your raging peanut allergy you eat Chunky Monkey ice cream and get yourself hauled to the hospital) you're gonna hate the soup. But for those who like gumbos and other thick soups served atop grains, this is a great one for the repertoire. And you can make it totally vegan if you so choose.

I based my recipe off of a couple of internet sources, but really followed neither.

1-2 onions, diced
2-3 green onions, chopped green and white parts
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (or to taste, or you can omit)
1-2 minced hot peppers (to taste, or omit, or use red pepper flakes if fresh isn't available)
1 can ground or chopped tomatoes (can use fresh, too, although you might want to then add a bit of tomato paste)
water or stock (I used the fresh chicken stock I'd made that afternoon)
approx 1 cup smooth peanut butter (this is not an exact measure, because we just added to taste, which is what I suggest. Everyone's tolerance for richness and peanut flava is totally different -- I think we ended up using 3/4 cup)

In a big pot, saute the onions, green onions, ginger and hot peppers until soft. Then throw in the tomatoes and continue cooking for a minute or so. Then add the water/stock and simmer for awhile. At this stage, if you want non-chunky soup, bust out your blender/hand blender. We skipped this step. Next, add the peanut butter. Mine was almost pourable, so I just whisked it in. If it's a bit more solid, you might want to emulsify it in the blender with a little stock before adding. In any case, do that in batches, because you don't want to add too much and render your soup inedible.  At this point, I added the shredded chicken, a teaspoon of black pepper and salt to taste.

Serve atop steamed millet (fucking awesome stuff, believe it or not!) or rice, like gumbo. We had it last night with a side of braised spinach, which I just stirred into my soup. Yum!

Comments

[alanashinean.livejournal.com]

Ah, that sounds really good. Will definitely give this a try. Cheers :)

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

Feel free to email me if anything is unclear. But, really, just read a few recipes online and go with your instinct. The brilliant thing about peasant food is that nothing is set in stone. :)

[kama-police.livejournal.com]

hmm, interesting.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a step away from most cuisines one runs across.

[regina-of-york.livejournal.com]

That is interesting. Roughly how much stock would you suggest?

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

I am guessing we had a couple liters. Basically, we made stock in the big stock pot, then divided that up in half.

If you're buying stock, I'd get two cartons (32 fl oz size) and then basically dilute the ingredients with the stock to your taste. The soup/stew is really soupy stuff -- any thickness at all will come from the pureed vegetables and the peanut butter. Any further dilution you require you could probably just do with water.

[scriva.livejournal.com]

Sounds very fascinating. How much is a cup, though? A cup of peanut butter sounds like almost the entire glass to me, (250 g) and that's quite a lot.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

We didn't use the whole cup. I'd say we used...150 grams or so. Maybe 170. It's still a lot, but it really depends on how much soup you're making. Better to have too much on hand (but not use it all) than too little.

Some recipes I've seen call for an entire 18oz jar -- that might be closer to what the actual soup is like in the West of Africa, but there's no way I could eat something that rich.

Here's the link to one of the recipes I used as a base. You can switch between imperial and metric. That recipe calls for a whopping 500+ grams of peanut butter. We used way less than that.

Whoops. Forgot the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/West-African-Peanut-Soup/Detail.aspx

[scriva.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the information. I guess if I make soup for several days, the amount of peanut butter will not be too much.

The true receipe sounds like something made for people who work on a field the entire day.

Now, I only need to know what's behind "steamed milled".

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

millet = die Hirse

Basically, you roast the Hirse in a hot pan (no oil) until they start to get toasty (they'll start to "pop"), then dump in 2X hot/boiling water to however much millet you used into the pan. Cover and lower the heat. Simmer until all the water is absorbed, let sit 5 more minutes, then fluff with a fork.

You can also use regular rice, however. This is also traditional. :)

[limecat-lotn.livejournal.com]

I seem to have all these ingredients in stock.

This must be a sign from the Gods.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

Indeed it is!

(it's really rich, though, so proceed carefully!)

[bassmike.livejournal.com]

Did it taste anything like the Lula's version?