Chicken and Peanut Vegetable Soup
Aperçu
This page needs its most important detail stated first, because it is a safety point: **the recipe contains peanut butter, and nothing in its title says so.** The article attached to this page describes an ordinary chicken and vegetable soup, celery, squash, chicken tenders poached in broth, a little tomato paste. The recipe card is a different dish entirely: a West African groundnut soup, built on peanut butter whisked into stock with tomatoes, chilli flakes, cabbage, sweet potato, carrot, turnip and okra. Anyone with a peanut allergy reading the title and the article would have no reason to expect it. The recipe itself, taken on its own terms, is a good one and belongs to a real tradition. Groundnut soups are eaten across West Africa, Ghanaian nkatenkwan, Nigerian and Senegalese versions, and the mafe family more broadly, and peanuts, though originally South American, have been grown in West Africa since the sixteenth century and are now completely embedded in its cooking. Okra is used here for both flavour and thickening. The title has been changed to name the peanut, and the URL is unchanged. The source's stated preparation time is not credible.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot and cook the diced onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- 2
Whisk half a cup of the vegetable stock into the onions along with the peanut butter, working it until completely smooth. Doing this before the rest of the liquid goes in is what stops the peanut butter seizing into lumps.
- 3
Beat in the remaining stock, the tomatoes with their juices and the red pepper flakes. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and cook gently for 30 minutes.
- 4
Mix in the cabbage, sweet potato, carrot and turnip, and cook gently, turning occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more.
- 5
Finally add the okra and the cooked chicken, and cook for a further 30 minutes until the okra is tender and has thickened the soup.
- 6
Taste, season, and serve.
Notes de l’Africook
- This soup contains peanuts. Say so when you serve it, the title and the original article both give no indication.
- Whisk the peanut butter into a small amount of stock first. Tipped into a full pot it seizes into lumps that never disperse.
- Add the okra last. It thickens the soup as it cooks and goes slimy if it is in from the start.
- Use natural peanut butter with no added sugar. Sweetened varieties throw the whole balance out.
- Cut the root vegetables to a similar size so they finish together.
- It is better the next day, once the peanut has settled into the broth.
Questions fréquentes
Does this soup contain peanuts?
Yes, half a cup of peanut butter, which is a central ingredient rather than a garnish. Neither the original title nor the article accompanying it mentioned this, which is why the title on this page has been changed to name it. If you are cooking for anyone with a peanut allergy, this dish is not suitable and there is no straightforward substitution: the peanut is what the soup is built on.
Why doesn't the recipe match the description?
Because two different dishes ended up on one page. The article describes a plain chicken and vegetable soup with celery, squash and poached chicken tenders. The recipe card is a West African groundnut soup with peanut butter, okra, sweet potato and turnip. The recipe card is the actual recipe, so that is what has been written up here, with the discrepancy stated openly rather than smoothed over.
What is groundnut soup?
A family of West African soups built on peanuts, eaten across Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and beyond under a range of names, nkatenkwan in Ghana, and related to the wider mafe family. Peanuts came from South America but have been grown in West Africa since the sixteenth century and are now completely embedded in its cooking. The soups vary from thin and brothy to very thick, and usually carry chilli, tomato and a starchy vegetable.
What does the okra do?
Two things. It contributes its own flavour, and as it cooks it releases mucilage which thickens the soup, which is why it goes in at the end rather than the beginning. Okra used as a thickener is standard across West African cooking. If you cook it too long or cut it too finely, the same property produces a texture some people dislike, so keep the pieces reasonably large and the final cooking brief.
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