Peanut Soup (Nkatenkwan)

Here is another traditional Ghanaian dish! This meal is best enjoyed on a Sunday afternoon. Most people in Ghana flock to restaurants and “chop bars” after Sunday church services to enjoy Nkatenkwan, a hearty peanut (groundnut, as it is known in Ghana) soup. Rice as well as boiled black eyed peas, hard boiled eggs, or steamed greens are also sometimes served with the soup, and along with your large bowl of food, you will also be served a large bowl of water and a bottle of liquid soap with which to wash hands, since the best way to eat soup in Ghana is sucked from your fingers! Complete the meal with a tall Star beer (the local brew), and you will be satisfied for the rest of the day!

I have described below the cooking process, which I first learned one Sunday afternoon with one of my host moms, Ma Lucy, while I was in Ghana as an exchange student. It’s difficult to give specific measurements for all the ingredients, since I’ve never seen any Ghanaian cook using measuring cups, but when my husband and I decided yesterday it was a good Sunday to enjoy a good soup, I tried to make record some precise observations…

Cut up one whole chicken (do not debone or remove skin). Place chicken pieces in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Add 1 clove chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, and about half of one small sliced onion. Steam chicken for 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix a little less than 1 cup of pure peanut paste (natural peanut butter with no additives) with a little more than 1 cup water, until it has the consistency of a thin yogurt.

At the same time, combine 1 medium tomato, 1 medium red onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 5 dried chili peppers in the blender. Blend to a smooth consistency, then add 3 oz tomato paste to thicken and give color.

Pour tomato base over chicken. Use 1 cup of water to rinse out blender and add to soup. Add a dash or more of salt. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Add diluted peanut paste to soup. Use 1 cup of water to rinse out bowl and add to soup. Add 4 to 5 additional cups of water. The soup should be very thin, and have a light tan color. Add salt to taste.

Bring soup to a boil, and let simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes, partially covered. As the soup boils, it will turn a darker brown, and some oil will rise to the surface. Continue to boil until this happens, and then for another 30 to 40 minutes after that. Serve in large bowls with steamed rice!

When I first learned to cook this dish with my host mom, we used a mortal and pestle instead of a blender. We also cooked over a coal pot that we continuously had to be fanning in order to maintain a consistent heat. That was a lot of work, but of course, worth all the extra energy! Sometimes it is hard to cook traditional food outside of a traditional area. You never have quite the same ingredients, nor the atmosphere. Somehow in Ghana, even the hot sun is an essential ingredient, and without it, it’s not quite the same. But it still can be done!

The most important thing for this dish is to find a good peanut paste. Peanut butter doesn’t work as well, but you can use a natural peanut butter, one that has that oil floating on the top. We used a peanut paste that we found at the African grocery on Meacham Avenue in Elmont.

The pepper is also a very important ingredient. We used a handful of fiery red dried chili peppers, but you could also use finger peppers, or the small round peppers that I have seen labeled in the grocery store as Jamaican hot peppers. This soup is best served spicy!