Shito Sauce
Overview
Shito is Ghana's dark chilli condiment, and it is one of the few West African sauces that keeps for months. Dried shrimp, ground smoked fish, chilli, onion, ginger and garlic are cooked down slowly in a large quantity of oil until the whole thing turns nearly black, and the oil that rises to the top is what preserves it. The name is simply the Ga word for pepper. It is made differently in every region and village, and it comes coarse or smooth, medium or extremely hot, depending on the household. What does not change is the smokiness, which comes from ground smoked fish and dried shrimp rather than from any smoking of the sauce itself. That combination has been compared to Malaysian sambal belacan, which works on the same principle of dried seafood cooked into chilli paste. It goes with almost everything: waakye, kenkey, plain rice, fried plantain, yam, beans. Ghanaians abroad travel with jars of it. Its keeping quality is the practical reason it exists in the quantities it does, since a batch made once will sit in the cupboard for two or three months with the oil layer intact, and in the fridge after that.
AFN Heritage Note
Shito is a Ghanaian chilli condiment whose name comes from the Ga word for pepper. It is preserved by the layer of oil in which it is cooked, and its characteristic smokiness derives from ground smoked fish and dried shrimp.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Peel the onions, ginger and garlic, wash them and slice them into small pieces.
- 2
Put a pot over medium heat and add the cooking oil to heat.
- 3
Add the sliced onions, ginger, garlic and pepper and fry for about 15 minutes.
- 4
Carefully lift them out of the oil and allow them to cool.
- 5
Return the oil to the heat, add the tomato paste and fry until it separates.
- 6
Blend the fried vegetables and add them to the tomato paste. Keep stirring and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
- 7Add the dried ingredients
the powdered shrimp, the bony fish and the herrings.
- 8
Add the seasoning cube, nutmeg, cloves and dried pepper powder, and simmer over low heat until the sauce turns dark brown.
- 9
Check the salt and adjust.
- 10
Allow to cool completely, then transfer to a dry, clean, sterilised jar and keep the oil covering the surface.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Jennifer Ezeokoli- Stir it often. Shito is thick and catches easily, and burnt shito is bitter throughout rather than just at the bottom. A non stick pot is worth using.
- The oil is not excessive. It is what preserves the sauce, so keep a layer sitting on the surface in the jar.
- Cool it completely before jarring. Warm shito in a sealed jar creates condensation, which is how a batch spoils.
- It keeps two to three months in a cool cupboard with the oil layer intact, and should go in the fridge once you start using it.
- For a vegan version, replace the dried fish and shrimp with ground nori and dried mushrooms, which give a comparable savoury depth.
- Adjust the chilli freely. Traditional shito is very hot, but the quantity is entirely a matter of preference and nothing else changes.
Reviews
3 reviews
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herh 15 onions is plenty oo! spent half my morning in the shop near Seven Sisters station looking for proper dried bony fish. recipe is very good chale but 10 min prep time is a lie, peeling all those onions and ginger alone takes way longer paa. taste is spot on though once the black oil settles top.
10 minutes prep is a proper lie! Peeling and dicing 1.5kg of onions and 200g of ginger took me a good 45 minutes alone. I couldn't get that dried fish at Spar here in Durban so I used 150g of dried kapenta instead. Came out super lekker served next to some braai chops once that dark oil settled top.
my husband was skeptical when he saw 15 whole onions going into the pot but absolute magic sommer. I couldnt find dried bony fish here in mother city so used extra dried shrimp powder instead. the way that tomato paste separates in the hot oil smells just like the spicy relishes my gran used to slow cook on sundays. divine with plain white rice.