Ghanaian · soup

Nkatenkwan (Groundnut Soup) with Fufu

Nkatenkwan (Groundnut Soup) with Fufu reads umami 6.1, richness 6.0 and nutty 5.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Ghanaian soup, about 2 hr 22 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.1 · Richness 6.0 · Nutty 5.6 · Heat 4.0 · Salinity 3.9 · Allium 3.7 · Marine & Briny 3.0 · Earthy 2.5 · Sweetness 2.4 · Fruity 2.3 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Sourness 1.8 · Bitterness 1.1 · Floral 1.0 · Citrus 0.9 · Herbaceous 0.8

What's in it (13)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 22 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 55 kcal, 5.3 g protein, 2.9 g fat, 1.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Put the goat in a dry heavy pot with the chopped half of the onion, the ginger, the grains of paradise and the salt. Cover and set over medium heat for 10 minutes, shaking the pot now and then, so the meat sweats and gives up its own juices before any water goes in. This first sweat is where the soup's depth starts.
  2. Add 500 ml of the water and simmer, covered, 25 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile put the groundnut paste in a bowl and whisk in about 400 ml of hot water a little at a time, 4 minutes, until it is a smooth pourable cream with no lumps at all.
  4. Pour the groundnut cream into the pot with another 400 ml water and simmer uncovered 25 minutes, stirring up from the bottom every 5 minutes. Groundnut paste catches and scorches faster than almost anything else in a West African kitchen.
  5. Blend the tomatoes, the whole onion half and the chillies until smooth and add them. Simmer uncovered 40 to 45 minutes more, until an orange oil rises and pools on the surface. That break is how you know the soup is cooked.
  6. Add the garden eggs and the crayfish and cook 15 minutes until the garden eggs are collapsing. Lift them out, mash them with a fork and stir them back in. Taste for salt.
  7. For the fufu, bring the 700 ml water to a boil, lower the heat and rain in the fufu flour while stirring hard with a wooden stick. Keep turning and folding 8 to 10 minutes, until it is smooth, stretchy and free of any raw taste.
  8. Wet your hands, shape the fufu into balls, and serve one in each bowl with the soup poured around it.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.