Fufu and Pepper Soup - an old fashioned West African recipe for the cold weather

Okay this recipe is almost traditional.  Instead of a mortar and pestle, I used a blender to mash my sesame seeds. And instead of using a burning fire, I used a microwave to make my fufu. Other than that, the recipe is as traditional as you'll get, outside of West Africa.

A video version of this recipe is here.

The written recipe is below:

Ingredients

Assorted meats (chicken and/or beef, lamb, goat, etc.)

Smoked/dried fish and shrimp (bony, smoked river fish, dried shrimp)

Fresh seafood (fish, shrimp, clams, etc.)

2 Maggi cubes

Assorted spices & herbs (1 tsp of each): dried basil, curry powder, garam masala, salt, black pepper

1 small or medium onion

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1 handful eggplants and/or bitterballs

⅓ - ½ cup okra

1 cup fresh spinach or potato greens

Desired amount of peppers (I used 3 pods of habaneros)

2-3 tbsp sesame seeds (I like to use both black and white sesame seeds)

4-6 tbsp tomato sauce or 1-2 tbsp tomato paste

4-5 cups stock or water 

A wedge of lime or lemon

Method

wash all ingredients before cooking 

1. Place empty soup pot on the stovetop, on lowest heat setting. Layer in meat and smoked/dried seafood. 

2. Layer in spices, herbs, seasonings and peppers. 

3. Add enough (about 4 cups) water/stock to entirely cover the the meats in the pot. Cover and boil for 15 minutes on medium heat. 

4. Boil eggplants/bitterballs and okra together in a separate pot, on low heat for 20 minutes or until they’re soft. 

5. While the pots are boiling, soak (1 cup water), peel and debone the bony fish in a bowl. Leave the water side for later. 

6. Prepare the fufu, learn how to prepare fufu in a microwave, here.

7. Remove meat and dried/smoked seafood from the soup pot. 

8. Add bony fish to the soup pot, stir. 

9. Add fresh seafood.

10. Strain the bony water into the soup pot. This will give the soup a second layer of flavor and it adds more liquid to the soup. Cover and boil for 5 minutes.

11. Remove the fresh seafood from the soup pot. Peel smoked/dried fish and shrimp if needed. 

12. Add smoked/dried seafood to the pot, after peeling and removing necessary bones. 

13. Add tomato paste/sauce to the soup. Add 1 tbsp peanut butter if you want a thicker soup. I’m preparing mine village style.  

14. Taste and add more seasoning and/or broth/water if needed. Cover and boil for another 10-15 minutes. 

15. Strain eggplants and okra (do not waste the water). Steam the spinach or potato greens in the same water from the okra/eggplants for 3-5 minutes. 

16. Toast the sesame seeds on low to medium heat, for 10-20 minutes or until the white sesame seeds are golden brown. 

17. Turn off heat on the soup, take out the peppers and add all the meats and seafood back to the pot.

18. Mash the peppers and divide in half. Add one half to the soup and mash the other half with the eggplants/okra/bitterballs/spinach/potato greens. This is called du-du. Du-du garnishes and thickens the pepper soup. It also helps with swallowing the fufu. 

19. Blend the sesame seeds or beat with a mortar and pestle. Optional: mix some of the mashed sesame seeds with some of the du-du. Some people like this mixture, some don’t. It’s all about preference here.

20. Serve and garnish with lemon or lime. 

bon appetit