Rookie Pan
← All recipes
Ghana, Middle East and Africa · Waakye (Ghanaian Rice and Beans)

Waakye with Homemade Shito

Leaf-stained waakye served with homemade shito: Ghana's dark, smoky hot pepper sauce of onion, ginger and dried shrimp slowly fried in oil.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 20 min
Soaking the beans+ 8 h
DifficultyHard

Method

  1. Pick over and rinse the beans, then soak them overnight (at least 8 hours) in plenty of cold water.

    Add in this stepDried black-eyed beans 80 g

  2. Drain the beans and put them in a 20 cm pot with the water and the rinsed, torn waakye leaves. Bring to the boil on high heat, turn down to medium-low heat, partly cover and simmer for , until the beans squash with slight resistance and the liquid is deep wine-red. Make the shito while they cook.

    Add in this stepDried waakye leaves (sorghum leaves) 3Water (for the beans) 1,000 ml

    high heat→medium-low heat

  3. Shito prep: roughly chop the onion, garlic and ginger and blend to a smooth paste without water (add a spoonful of the shito oil if the blades stick). Grind the dried shrimp separately to a fine powder in a blender or mortar.

    Add in this stepOnion 1Garlic cloves 3Fresh ginger 15 g

  4. Heat the shito oil in a 18 cm pan on medium heat, add the onion paste (careful, it spits) and fry for , stirring often, until the moisture has cooked off, the sizzling quietens and the paste is a deep brown.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil (for the shito) 100 ml

    medium heat

  5. Turn the heat down to low heat, add the tomato paste, cayenne, crumbled stock cube and shrimp powder and keep stirring for , until the sauce is a very dark red-brown, almost black, and the oil separates on top. Keep scraping the base: burnt shito tastes bitter. Turn off the heat and let it cool.

    Add in this stepTomato paste 1½ tbspCayenne pepper (or ground dried chilli) 1½ tspChicken stock cube ½Dried shrimp 25 g

    low heat

  6. Wash the rice until the water runs clear and add it to the beans with the salt, adjusting the liquid to 1.5 cm above the rice. Bring to the boil on high heat, stir once, cover tightly and cook on low heat for . Meanwhile, boil the eggs for , cool them in cold water and peel.

    Add in this stepLong-grain rice 150 gSalt ¾ tspEggs 2

    high heat→low heat

  7. Turn off the heat and leave the pot covered for , then remove the leaves and fork the waakye through gently.

  8. Serve the waakye topped with the halved eggs and a spoonful or two of shito. It is hot, so mix it in a little at a time.

Cook's tip

Cooled shito keeps for 3–4 weeks in the fridge in a clean jar with a layer of oil on top. Traditional shito also contains ground smoked fish: add a spoonful with the shrimp if you have it. Control the heat with the amount of cayenne.

Cooking it at camp

Make the shito at home and bring it in a jar, so at camp you only cook the rice. Use soaked or canned beans and a heavy pot over a low flame, and boil the eggs in advance and keep them in the cooler.