Tomato-based stew made to accompany waakye -- a Ghanaian rice and beans dish
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr15 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: Ghanaian
Ingredients
Mushroom Broth Base
3large king oyster mushrooms
1small pack of oyster mushrooms
a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms
1vegetable bouillon cube
1/2tsp black pepper
1/2tsp anise seeds
1 clove garlic
1figernail sized ginger
1shallot finely chopped
1.5cup water
Tomato Stew Base
5tomatoes
1red bell pepper
3medium onions1 finely chopped, 2 roughly chopped
1large thumb size ginger
3clovesof garlic
1-2scotch bonnet pepper
1can of tomato pasteI use a 156ml can
1tbspof ghanaian all purpose seasoningrecipe on my blog linked above
1tbspof all purpose seaoningrecipe on my blog linked above
1block of extra firm tofucut into cubes
1cupoilI used avocado oil
apinchbaking sodaoptional -- only useful if tomatoes are sour
Instructions
Prepare the tomato sauce
In a blender, blend the tomatoes and bell pepper
Pour the mixture in a pot, cover it and let it boil at medium heat for about 30 minutes. You can add a pinch of baking soda if your tomatoes are not in season and are sour. We are giving the tomato sauce a head start to cook so that by the time we are ready to add fresh tomatoes to the stew, it has reduced in water volume.
Make the mushroom borth
Next, grind the onion, garlic, ginger, and spices portioned for the broth in a food processor or mortar and pestle. (Please read notes if you do not have a mortar and pestle or food processor)
In a pot at medium heat, add the king oyster and dried shiitake mushrooms with the water and let the water come to a boil
Add in the vegetable bouillon cube as well as the grinded aromatic spices mixture
Bring the broth to a boil and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
After, add in your oyster mushrooms and let everything simmer at medium low heat till the dried mushrooms have fully hydrated. This should take another 5-10 mins. Once the mushrooms have softened, remove the mushrooms from the broth and squeeze out any excess broth from the mushrooms to get as much mushroom broth out of the mushrooms as possible. This is important for the frying of the mushrooms.
Cooking the stew
In a pot, heat up the oil till warm then fry your mushrooms till crispy. The mushrooms will crisp up faster if all the broth has been squeezed out. Remove the fried mushrooms and set aside.
Next, fry your tofu till crispy then set aside.
After, add in your finely chopped onions. Allow the onions to fry till they turn brown then remove the onion from the pot and place in a blender with the roughly chopped onion, ginger, garlic cloves and scotch bonnet pepper.
Blend everything together then return it back to the oil.
Let the onion mixture fry for about 5-10 minutes then add in your tomato paste.
Mix the tomato paste well and let it cook for another 5 minutes. This gets out the can taste.
At this point, our tomato sauce from earlier has significantly reduced in size so we will be incorporating it into the tomato paste onion mixture. Mix everything well and let it cook at medium low heat for about 10 -15 minutes.
Next, pour in your mushroom broth and spice blends and mix well. Then add in your fried mushrooms and fried tofu and mix well.
Let everything cook for another 10 minutes or till the oil starts to separate to the top of the stew. The oil separation signifies that the tomatoes have fully broken down and the oil has reached its boiling point, which is a good indication that the stew is ready.
Serve with waakye or rice
Notes
If you do not have a food processor or mortar and pestle, you can blend the ginger, onion, garlic and spices portioned for the mushroom broth with the water portioned for the broth in a regular blender.