Ghanaian Red Red Black-Eyed Bean Stew

About This Recipe

Red red gets its name from its two red components: black-eyed peas stewed in a deep-red palm oil and tomato sauce, served alongside sweet fried ripe plantain that turns a similar red-gold color as it caramelizes. It's one of Ghana's most common everyday dishes, sold at chop bars and cooked at home in roughly equal measure, and it's naturally vegan unless fish is added. The beans are simmered slowly with onion, tomato, ginger and often a little smoked fish or shrimp for depth, then finished with red palm oil, which gives the stew its distinctive color and a faintly nutty, earthy flavor unlike any other cooking fat. Getting the palm oil to bloom properly — heating it briefly until it turns from bright orange to a deeper red — is a small but important step that unlocks its flavor. The fried plantain is not a garnish here but an equal partner: its sweetness is deliberately built to contrast with the savory, slightly spicy beans. A good red red should taste rich and slightly smoky from the palm oil, with the plantain providing sweet relief between spoonfuls of the stew.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 cupsdried black-eyed peas(soaked overnight, or 3 cans drained)
• 4 tbspred palm oil
• 1onion(finely chopped)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tbspginger(grated)
• 2tomatoes(blended or finely chopped)
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1scotch bonnet pepper(whole, pierced once)
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 3ripe plantains(sliced diagonally)
• 3 tbspvegetable oil(for frying plantain)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beans

   Simmer soaked black-eyed peas in fresh water until tender, about 40 minutes, then drain and set aside, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.

2. 2

   Bloom the palm oil

   Heat red palm oil in a pot over medium heat until it deepens in color slightly, about 1 minute, then add onion and cook until soft.

   Don't let the palm oil smoke or it turns bitter — heat it just until the color deepens.

3. 3

   Build the stew base

   Stir in garlic, ginger, tomatoes, tomato paste and scotch bonnet. Cook 10 minutes until the raw tomato smell is gone and the oil separates slightly at the edges.

4. 4

   Simmer with the beans

   Add the cooked beans, smoked paprika, salt and a splash of the reserved bean liquid. Simmer 15 minutes until thickened and cohesive.

5. 5

   Fry the plantain

   While the stew simmers, fry the ripe plantain slices in vegetable oil until deep golden on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

6. 6

   Serve together

   Spoon the bean stew into bowls and serve with the fried plantain arranged alongside.

Variations

• •

  Add smoked fish or dried shrimp when building the stew base for a more traditional coastal flavor.

• •

  Use canned black-eyed peas to cut the cooking time to about 20 minutes total.

• •

  Serve with gari (toasted cassava granules) instead of or alongside the fried plantain.

Storage

Refrigerate the bean stew up to 4 days; it thickens as it cools, so loosen with a splash of water when reheating. Fry plantain fresh rather than reheating, since it loses its crisp edge.

Frequently Asked Questions