Bowl of Beef Peanut Stew
(click to enlarge)

Beef Peanut Stew / Soup


Nigeria / Ghana   -   Groundnut Stew
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 6 w/rice
***
3-1/4 hrs
Yes		 Stews with Peanut Sauce are very popular throughout West Africa, made with Goat, Beef or Chicken. Recipes for this dish vary a lot, so you can adjust to your needs, but the Peanuts are essential.
If you need to avoid peanuts, see our Beef and "Spinach" Stew recipe, which is also very good. See also Comments.

1
9
1-1/2
2
2
-------
1
12
3
1
1
4
-------
2
1
5
2/3
1
1
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-------
#
oz
c
oz
oz
---
#
oz
cl
in

oz
---
T
T
c
c
T
t
---
an

---
Beef (1)
Beef Tripe (2)
Peanuts, raw (3)
Stockfish (4)
Smoked Fish (5)
-- Vegies
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Habanera Chili (6)
Swiss Chard (7)
-------------------
Oil
Oil (more)
Stock (8)
Water
Crayfish, ground (9)  
Salt
-- Serve with
African Mash (10)  
-or- Steamed Rice
----------------
Pre-Prep
These steps can be done a day ahead.
  1. IF using:   Place BEEF TRIPE in a saucepan with water to cover. Add a little Lemon Juice or Citric Acid. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Drain and repeat once. Drain. Starting with 9 ounces you will now have 6 oz. Cut into strips about 3/8 x 1 inch (35 min - 10 min work)
  2. IF using:   Dry pan roast RAW PEANUTS (see our recipe Dry Roasted Peanuts. Run in a food processor until it starts to cake, then add 2/3 cup Water and process as fine as it will get. (20 min total), or see Note-3 for an alternative.
  3. IF using:   Place STOCKFISH in a sauce pan with Water to cover well. Bring to a boil, take off the heat, cover, and let soak 6 to 8 hours. Drain, remove bones and break into small pieces (8 hrs - 10 min work).
  4. IF using:   Soak SMOKE DRIED FISH for 6 to 8 hours. Drain, remove bones and break into small pieces. (8 hrs - 10 min work).
Prep   -   (40 min)
  1. Cut BEEF into about 3/4 inch cubes.
  2. Scald TOMATOES one minute in boiling water. Quench in cold water and peel. Chop small.
  3. Quarter ONIONS lengthwise and slice thin crosswise. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Mix.
  4. Slice GINGER crosswise very thin. Cut slices into threads and chop threads fine. Mix with Onions.
  5. Cut HABANERA open and add to Tomatoes.
  6. Cut CHARD leaves into strips about 3/8 inch wide by 1-1/2 inches long.
Run   -   (2-1/2 hrs)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan heat 1-1/2 T OIL and stir in Beef. Fry stirring until all raw color is gone and any exuded liquid has evaporated. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain.
  2. Add 1 T Oil or as needed. Stir in Onion mix and fry stirring until Onions are translucent.
  3. Stir in Tomatoes and fry stirring until softened.
  4. Stir in Stock, Tripe, Beef, Stockfish and Smoked Fish. Bring to a boil and simmer until Beef is quite tender (1-1/4 to 2 hours depending on cut)
  5. IF using Peanut Butter, blend smoothly with 2/3 cup of water
  6. When Meats are tender, stir in Peanut mix.
  7. Stir in Crayfish, Salt and Chard. Adjust liquid if needed. If serving alone with rice I prefer a fair amount of liquid. Bring to a simmer until the Chard is tender, (about 5 minutes).
  8. Adjust seasoning as needed. Some ingredients may be salty, so adjust salt by taste.
  9. Serve hot with plenty of Steamed Jasmine Rice or an African Mash.
NOTES:

  1. Beef:

      Weight is boneless with excess fat removed. This can be a stewing cut such as Chuck or Round (which will need a bit longer cooking).

  2. Beef Tripe:

      This is very popular in soups and stews in Nigeria, so I wouldn't leave it out. Blanket or Honeycomb Tripe will do fine. For details see our Beef Tripe page.

  3. Peanuts:

      If you wish you can use the same measure of Peanut Butter instead, though the flavor and texture will be a little different. Smooth is usually used, but, be sure it's All Natural Peanut Butter without sugar. Many markets carry only the heavily sugared versions - peanut flavored candy for kids.

  4. Stockfish:

      This is Fish, dried in the open air without salt. Since 1969 it has become a Nigerian kitchen necessity ("I can't cook without stockfish"). For details see our Stockfish page. If doing this recipe Nigerian style, try to have it, but if not use some other dried Cod, Polock or Hake. For details see our Fish - Dried, Salted & Smoked page.

  5. Smoke Dried Fish:

      In Nigeria this would likely by Smoke Dried Catfish or Mangala. If you don't have anything like this, use Western Smoked Mackerel, very easy to find in North America, but skip the soaking step. For details see our Fish - Dried, Salted & Smoked page.

  6. Habanero Chili:

      Habanero / Scotch Bonnet Chilis from the Caribbean now dominate in West Africa. Just one gives this recipe noticeable heat. If you're from the Frozen North, you may wish to use only half of one, others may wish to use two - use your own best judgement here. For details see our African Chilis page.

  7. Swiss Chard:

      Weight is for leaf only, without stems. In West Africa, Fluted Pumpkin leaves, young Taro leaves, or Bitterleaf might be used, but these are imperfectly available in North America. White stemmed Chard is a good substitute..

  8. Stock:

      Beef and Chicken stock are used, but in West Africa often plain Water is used with a couple Maggi cubes or Knorr cubes.

  9. Crayfish:

      West African Crayfish is Shrimp that has been smoked rather than just dried. For details see our African Dried Crayfish page.

  10. African Mash:

      These are the "rice" of Africa, the bland starchy main dishes to which the strongly flavored soups and stews are the sauce. Examples are Banku, Fufu of Yam and Fufu of Cassava. Since these tend to be inconvenient in a Western household, I usually use steamed Jasmine Rice, which is also used in West Africa if it can be afforded.

  11. Comments:

      If making Ghana style, Stockfish is not yet much used there, so some other dried fish would be good, or just use more of the Smoked Fish. Most recipes don't include Greens, but I like the greens and they make the stew look more interesting. Some of the photos on the Internet look really blah.
  12. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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