Gingery Ghanaian Chicken Soup
Chicken soup is one of the decadent celebratory dishes Ghanaians really enjoy. Often times it is enjoyed during the holiday season. However, in our family, this chicken soup recipe is a favorite and I make it at least once a month. This Ghanaian style chicken soup is quite different from the American chicken noodle soup. It has a distinct ginger pepperiness that accompanies the rich chicken flavor. Like many Ghanaian soups, Ghanaian chicken soup is commonly served with fufu (plantain or yam dumpling).
The Chicken
For this recipe, you will want to use tough chicken. Because it takes a bit of time to cook, an ordinary soft meat chicken will fall apart. In your local grocery store, you will find chicken labeled as stewed chicken and sometimes as hen. In African markets, you will find chicken labeled as African stew chicken. If in doubt, ask your butcher about buying tough chicken. If you absolutely cannot find tough chicken, then the traditional softer meat chicken will suffice. The chicken may be sold frozen or fresh. I usually have the butcher divide my meat into medium to small bite-sized pieces to save on time.
Flavors
As stated earlier, this soup is packed full of flavor. Although ginger is the main actor in this dish, onions, garlic, habanero, and bright tomatoes make their presence known. Although this blend of ingredients is typical for many of my recipes, you will discover a different flavor profile in this soup based on the preparation. Another flavor that many Ghanaians enjoy as a part of this dish comes from basil. In the Akan language, basil is called akokɔ bɛsa. The literal translation of this name is “the chicken will be finished” or eaten up.
Pairing
As previously mentioned, chicken soup is most commonly eaten with fufu, which is the famous pounded starch dumpling made of plantain, yam, or cocoyam paired with cassava. Because pounding fufu can be a laborious time-consuming task, the alternative neat fufu or fufu flour is an option for many especially abroad. We typically pair our fufu with plantain or cocoyam fufu flour ready in minutes over the stovetop or microwave. Although fufu is the most popular accompaniment to this soup another great pairing is rice or gari (cassava meal).
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 whole medium sized onion
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 habaneros
- 2 large tomatoes
- 3 inches of ginger (yields 1½ tablespoons)
- ¼ cup water for steaming meat
- ¼ cup water for blending aromatics
- 3 pounds stewed chicken (approx half a whole chicken) butchered into medium-sized pieces
- 1 large stock cube
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Blend 1 inch of ginger (approx 2 tsp of ginger chopped), 1 onion, and 1 head of garlic together.
- Place the chicken in a pot and pour the blended onion mixture over the chicken. Add 1 large stock cube to the meat and cover pot to steam chicken. No water will be needed.
- After 5 minutes of steaming add 2 large tomatoes, the remaining 2 inches of ginger whole, 2 habaneros whole, and 1 onion whole to the chicken to allow to steam. The juices from the chicken will steam the vegetables.
- After 5-7 minutes of steaming the whole onion, ginger, habaneros, and tomatoes, remove them from the pot and blend along with 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
- Pour the blended vegetables over the steamed chicken and add 4 cups of water along with one more large stock cube.
- Simmer on low to medium heat for 30 minutes. The soup will be ready once the chicken drippings separate over the top of the soup.