Ghanaian Fufu with Light Soup

About This Recipe

Fufu with light soup is the definitive meal of Ghanaian comfort eating — a smooth, elastic ball of pounded cassava and plantain (or yam), placed in a bowl and surrounded by a clear, intensely flavored broth called light soup. The soup, made from tomatoes, peppers, and meat, is 'light' in appearance (clear rather than thick) but bold in flavor. Fufu is never chewed — it's swallowed in pieces.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500 gcassava, peeled
• 2 mediumunripe plantains, peeled
• 500 gchicken or goat meat, cut into pieces
• 4 mediumripe tomatoes
• 3 piecesscotch bonnet peppers
• 1 largeonion, halved
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 cubeseasoning/bouillon
• 1 literwater

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the meat

   Season meat and simmer with half the onion, seasoning cube, and salt in water for 30–40 minutes until tender. Reserve all the stock.

2. 2

   Make the light soup

   Blend tomatoes, scotch bonnet, and remaining onion. Add to the meat stock. Simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning.

3. 3

   Cook fufu ingredients

   Boil cassava and plantain separately until completely soft. Drain.

4. 4

   Pound the fufu

   Combine cooked cassava and plantain in a large mortar. Pound together until completely smooth, stretchy, and elastic with no lumps. This takes 15–20 minutes of sustained pounding. Shape into balls.

5. 5

   Serve

   Place a fufu ball in each bowl. Ladle the light soup over and around it. Eat by pinching off pieces of fufu and dipping into the soup.

Variations

• •

  Make fufu with only cassava (more elastic)

• •

  Use egusi soup instead of light soup

• •

  Add smoked fish to the light soup

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

Storage

Fufu is best made and eaten immediately. Light soup keeps 3 days refrigerated.

Frequently Asked Questions