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Red-red
Red-red is a traditional Ghanaian recipe for a stew of black-eyed beans with smoked and dried fish in a red palm oil and tomato base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ghanaian version of: Red-red.
prep time
30 minutes
cook time
90 minutes
Total Time:
120 minutes
Additional Time:
(+over-night soaking)
Serves:
5–6
Rating: 
Tags : Bean RecipesGhana Recipes
Red-red is a classic Ghanaian stew of black-eyed beans in a red palm oil and tomato base (hence red-red for the two ingredients that also provide the colour). Traditionally the stew would be flavoured with smoked meats (crawfish, cow heel or skin and, most importantly, smoked and dried fish). Like many West African dishes, the smoked meat is provided for its flavour and not to provide meat. I usually have smoked fish for this, though at a pinch you could use smoked paprika. The recipe also uses a bouillon cube. Typically, this would be maggi prawn (shrimp) bouillon or beef bouillon. The flavour of these bouillon cubes is based on soy beans, so if you can’t get them add a generous glug of soy sauce and the stock cube of your choice. Personally, I would always use dried beans, but tinned black eyed beans can be substituted. There is no real substitute for red palm oil, as it has its own particular flavour. At a pinch you could substitute rapeseed (canola) oil mixed with a little kashmiri chilli (for the colour). The crawfish are dried prawns that are whizzed in a blender to powder them. They act as both a flavouring and a thickening agent.
Ingredients:
500g (1 pound) dried black-eyed beans
125-180ml (1/2 – ¾ cup) red palm oil
1 small piece smoked and dried fish
1 medium Onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
½ tbsp fresh garlic, minced
2 Tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp smoked paprika
6 tbsp (1/3 cup) crawfish (smoked and dried prawns), powdered
500-650 (2–3 cups) stock/ water
1 maggi stock cube (or vegetarian/chicken stock cube + 1 tbsp soy sauce)
2-3 spring onions chopped
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper as needed
1 habanero chilli (or use a milder chilli)
Method:
Thoroughly rinse the dry black-eyed beans then pick through them and discard any foreign objects. Add the beans to a large pot, ensuing they are covered by 7.5-10cm (3-4 in) of cold water. Cover with a lid and set aside to soak over night.
The following day, drain the beans, rinse well then transfer to a deep casserole dish (Dutch oven) or pressure cooker. For a pressure cooker they will take 10-20 minutes to cook. On the stove they will take about 60 minutes to become tender.
Drain the cooked beans and set aside. If you are using tinned beans drain and wash and proceed from this point.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and fry for 3-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add the tomatoes, tomato puree, smoked fish, ginger, garlic, paprika and the stock cube. Cook, stirring frequently, for 60 seconds then stir in the powdered crawfish and the whole chilli. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, adding stock/water if the sauce becomes too thick.
Now add the cooked beans, spring onions and any remaining stock/wate. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point remove the smoked and dried fish (if using) and the whole chilli. If you want the dish properly hot mash the chilli into the sauce.
Adjust the seasonings to taste, turn into a warmed serving dish and bring to the table.
