Groundnut Soup (Nkate Nkwan)

My adolescent journey into Ghanaian cuisine

“What’s your favorite Ghanaian dish?”

A simple question but one that requires immense contemplation. In that instant, it felt like a record scratch, freeze frame moment as time paused and my mind raced in search of an answer.

As I pondered it, my mind first conjured Jollof Rice, a popular tomato-rice based dish. I also considered kelewele, a dish consisting of fried pieces of seasoned plantains. But after final consideration, I had the clear answer: Nkate Nkwan — groundnut soup — the dish that kickstarted my love of Ghanaian food.

A photo of groundnut soup (picture from Serious Eats)

As a child, my meals needed to taste a certain way, the meat de-boned, and spicy food was a clear non-starter. Needless to say, Ghanaian food — known for its spicy, bone-in meat to enhance flavors, and non-American look horrified my juvenile food palate. The result? I often frequented the nearby Landing Restaurant, a spot near our family home that served chicken nuggets and fries alongside Ghanaian dishes during our yearly trips to Ghana. There, I’d rejoice and exchange jokes with the chef, talking about life while indulging in my go-to meal. Trip by trip, the chef began spicing them up. First, she started by adroitly adding Maggi cubes, a popular seasoning in West Africa. It added a slight spice — but not too much — and it piqued my interest as she continued to explore ways to ease me into Ghanaian cooking.

Next, she introduced me to shito, a Ghanaian pepper sauce. I was heistant to try it — after all, I’d declared spicy food wasn’t for me. Yet, I remember her sharing the stories and history of these dishes and she implored me to just try them. Begrudgingly, I did and to my shock, I liked them. I started having them regularly alongside my chicken nuggets and fries and by the end of that summer trip, she wrote down the recipe for her customized nuggets so I could recreate them at home (a recipe I cherish to this day!).

A few months later, I met the dish that kickstarted my love for all-things Ghanaian food. In typical childhood fashion, I was hungry. We were in my Uncle’s house and I wanted something to eat. Yet, while everyone planned to eat fried fish and banku, they were aware that my then immature palate that had only just recently accepted Maggi cubes and shito sauce was not going to eat that. My Aunt had an idea — groundnut soup. A soup based around peanut butter, a tomato base, and pieces of chicken. It was a dish she had learned and cooked often when she needed something in a pinch and she was certain I’d love it.

Her wizardry astonished me — it was love at first sip. A paste I normally had in a PB&J sandwich had been completely transformed. I devoured the entire bowl — I had finally found that breakthrough dish. By my next trip to Ghana, I no longer desired chicken nuggets and fries, I just wanted groundnut soup. It became my go-to meal for nearly every lunch and dinner.

Yet it also encouraged me to experiment. Having peanut butter every day gets tiring so I started to pair it with new things. Some logical — like having the soup with fufu instead of rice — and some a bit strange — like trying to pair it with gari foto. As I experimented, I started getting more comfortable trying those other dishes on their own. Soon enough, I was eating the same dishes as everyone else in my family.

All these years later, I’m still enamored as I explore more about Ghanaian cuisine. A couple years back, I purchased The Ghana Cookbook and started learning how to make these dishes on my own. My first dish? Groundnut soup. Simmering the tomato base of the stew, carefully mixing the peanut butter into the concoction so it emulsifies just right, and the joy in fixing up your own plate and digging in.

As I perfected the recipe, I hosted a virtual cooking event with my friends where I led us in making the dish. Despite our group cooking via Zoom across time zones and cultures, I smiled with pride watching their faces light up in joy and awe as they savored the dish that enamored me all those years ago. As we made our plates and chatted, I spoke with pride about my personal history with the dish and all the other types of foods I’ve since tasted and added to my diet. I felt proud of how far I’d come and excited for where my relationship with Ghana’s rich culinary scene will take me next.

And it’s all because groundnut soup became my bridge to this beautiful world of flavors— Medaase.

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Want to make your own groundnut soup? Click here for the recipe I made with my friends.