KITCHEN IN GHANA RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F. Cut the chicken wings through their joints into smaller pieces. Spread the wings and carrots out in a large roasting tin and cook for 45-60 minutes in the oven or until golden brown. Transfer the roasting tin to your stovetop. Turn the heat to high and when the roasting juices in the tin start to bubble, add in 2 cups of water. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then transfer all the chicken, carrots and the liquid into a large stock pot. Place the stock pot over a high heat and add the kombu, shitake, 6 spring onions, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Top up with 10 cups of water. Bring the stock to a simmer then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 3 hours, skimming the surface every so often. In the meantime, make the tare by mixing the ingredients in a small bowl. Remove and reserve the shitake mushrooms. Remove and discard the chicken and aromatics. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve. Pour the broth into a clean saucepan. Taste and season with the tare according to your tastes (I added almost all of the tare to mine, but it will depend on the saltiness of your soy sauce and how much your broth reduced). To serve, place noodles in serving bowls. Ladle over the soup broth. Top with chashu pork or your choice of topping. Slice the reserved shitake mushrooms (discard the stems). Add the mushroom slices to the bowl. Add half an egg and sprinkle over the spring onion. *NOTES: Kombu is a firm dried seaweed that you can buy from any Asian or Japanese grocery store. Mirin is a type of Japanese cooking rice wine (it has less alcohol than sake but is sweeter). It’s available in the Asian aisle of some major supermarkets or from an Asian grocery store.

Steps:

• Heat the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Then use a mortar and pestle to grind to a fine powder. Set aside for later. To prepare the tofu, carefully cut open the packet, drain away the liquid and tip the tofu out onto a cutting board. Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes. Heat a saucepan of water over high heat. When the water is at a gentle simmer (don’t rapidly boil the water or the tofu might break up), add a generous couple of pinches of salt. Then carefully add the tofu pieces. Simmer gently for 2-3 minutes then turn the heat off and allow the tofu to steep in the hot, salty water. In a wok or large frying pan over high heat, add the oil. Then add the pork mince and cook, breaking up the meat for 2-3 minutes. Then add the douban jiang and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Then stir through the garlic, ginger and chilli powder. Stir-fry for half a minute. Then add the chicken stock, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat down to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about a quarter and is starting to thicken. Stir through the cornflour mixture. Now add the Sichuan peppercorn powder. Taste and season with extra salt or soy sauce if needed. Now use a slotted spoon to drain the tofu and add it to the pork mixture. Drizzle over the sesame oil and gently toss. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with spring onions. Serve with steamed rice. *NOTES: Douban jiang is a spicy fermented chilli bean paste. Find it at your Asian grocery store.