Vegan Shito (No Fish or Shrimp)

This vegan-friendly Ghanaian shito recipe is full of heat, and flavour, fish-free and shrimp free. It spicy and super delicious.

What is shitɔ

Shitɔ is a hot sauce that accompanies a lot of our rice-based dishes and swallows in Ghana. It is a word from the Ga language meaning hot sauce. Traditionally, it is made by cooking a blended mixture of onions, garlic and ginger with spices, dried crayfish and dried anchovies. It is basically the Ghanaian tabasco or sriracha but with the popularity of ketchup.

If there is anything I have been dying to veganize, it has been this recipe. Before going vegan, I use to slather this sauce on everything. Rice, stir-fry, any form of carb, basically if it was savoury and not liquidy, I will add shito on it. So it was unfortunate to not enjoy my favourite hot sauce when I went vegan. But with a bit of intuition, I have managed to find a recipe that works for me.

What you will need to make vegan shitɔ

• Onions: This is the base of the recipe. It adds sweetness and bulk
• Garlic: Garlic provides a nice savoury flavour
• Ginger: Adds a spicy kick
• Hot Pepper: You can use any fresh hot pepper you like, but traditionally, it is made with chilli powder
• Tomato Paste: This is not 100% necessary but I find the tomato past definitely adds sweetness to balance out the heat
• Spices: You can use any blend of spices you want but I do prefer a spice mix with anise seeds, curry powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Rosemary also works well here. I also add a vegetarian stock powder for more flavour.
• Vegetable Oil: You will need vegetable oil with a high smoke point — canola or peanut oil work well here
• Dry Mushroom, Nori Sheets, Wakame (Japanese kelp): Since we are not using fish, we will need to add a component that adds umami flavour to the shito. Blending up dried mushrooms, nori sheets add fishiness and intense savoury flavour. It also helps with turning the colour of the hot sauce black.

How to make Vegan Shitɔ

1. Cook your tomato paste in hot oil
2. Once dissolved add in your blended onion, garlic and ginger and cook that down
3. You can then add your pepper, fish substitute and spices
4. Cook till most of the water has evaporated — the shito will get lighter and fewer water streaks

I have two videos on youtube you can check out: The first is my most recent video and the second is for a smaller quantity.

Updated video

Smaller Quantity

FAQ + Substitutions

• I do not have nori or wakame, what can I use? I have seen people make this with TVP blended into a powder or soy powder. Mushrooms alone work well here too.
• Can I use healthier oil? You are welcome to use whatever oil you want, please do not use coconut oil as it doesn’t lend itself to long cooking processes. Alternatively, once the shito is done, you can discard a bit of the oil.

What you can serve vegan shitɔ with

Shito is traditionally served with these rice dishes.

• Jollof Rice
• Fried Rice
• Waakye

If you like this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below.

If you are looking for a much smaller quantity of this recipe, make sure to check out this video.