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Home » African » Ghanaian Red Red

Ghanaian Red Red

By Hank Shaw on May 21, 2020, Updated January 22, 2021 - 14 Comments

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5 from 7 votes
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Ghanaian red red stew in a bowl
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

If you like pork and beans and rice, you will absolutely love red red. One of the signature dishes of Ghana, red red gets its name from cowpeas cooked in red palm oil with tomatoes.

I happen to grow a red cowpea called a Bisbee red (it’s from Arizona), and I added some smoked ham to the mix, effectively making this red red red red. Yeah, I am easily amused.

Seriously, though this is arguably the most wonderful bowl of pork and beans I have ever eaten, and that is saying a lot. I eat this combination, with wild or feral pork or javelina, as much as I can. And this recipe wins the prize.

My rendition owes a lot to the recipe I found in what I consider the finest Ghanaian cookbook around, Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, which, if you are at all interested in West African food, should be on your wishlist.

There are two “odd” ingredients in traditional red red: Red palm oil and gari, which is fermented cassava meal. Red palm oil is actually not terribly hard to find in fancy supermarkets and health food stores, and you can buy sustainably farmed red palm oil here. (You want to try to get sustainably farmed palm oil, because there is a whole industry out there that is wrecking the tropics for this stuff.)

closeup of red red stew
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

As for gari? I think you can get it online, but you can also just skip it; it’s a garnish.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of buying palm oil but still want a red oil, set some oil over low heat and drop in a few annatto seeds, or, if you’re like me an like things spicy, some dried red chiles. Let them sizzle gently a few seconds, then take the oil off the heat and let it steep overnight. Voila! Red oil.

Still too much? Use lard or whatever fat or oil makes you happy. Just make this dish.

Oh, and pretty much everyone uses regular black-eyed peas here, not my fancy red ones. That said, if you want to go for full redness, you can buy Sea Island Red Peas, which are very similar.

No matter what bean you use, they must be cooked separately from the rest of the stew because the acidity of the rest of the ingredients will make the beans take hours and hours and hours to cook. This holds true for all beans, incidentally, which is why Boston baked beans take all day.

Typically you would serve your red red stew with fried plantains, but I prefer it over simple white rice.

If you want to serve this as part of a larger West African meal, try it alongside my version of Senegalese mafe, which is a shank (lamb, deer, elk, veal, etc.) braised in a peanut sauce, or a Ghanaian palaver sauce, which is a stew of greens and meat, in my case venison.

red red recipe
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5 from 7 votes

Ghanaian Red Red Stew

This is a wonderful dish of beans with tomatoes and a touch of chile and curry. I add some pork to it, too, which is not traditional. Use red palm oil if you can, because it is one of the signature ingredients; if you can't find it, substitutions are above.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time1 hr 30 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: West African
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 412kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup cowpeas of any kind (black-eyed peas are the most common)
  • 1/4 cup red palm oil, or substitute (see above)
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • A 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, minced
  • 1/4 pound smoked pork, chopped (or ham)
  • 1 to 3 teaspoons cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 4 to 6 plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cook the cowpeas in plain water until they are tender. Add a big pinch of salt, cover the pot and remove it from the heat. Set aside for now.
  • In a medium pot, heat the palm oil over medium heat. When it's hot, saute the onions for about 3 minutes, then add the Scotch bonnet and the chopped, smoked pork. Saute for another minute or three. Stir in the cayenne and the curry powder, then the chopped fresh tomatoes.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and the cowpeas. Remove the cowpeas from their water with a slotted spoon. It's OK if some cooking water gets into the pot. Stir well to combine and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with fried plantains or simple white rice.

Notes

NOTE: If you are using canned black-eyed peas, just drain them in a colander and rinse well, and add them to the stew as directed above. 

Nutrition

Calories: 412kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 409mg | Potassium: 1298mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1175IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 7mg
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Filed Under: African, Featured, Recipe

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for PhilPhil says

    March 23, 2022 at 7:35 am

    Hank, I would like to try this but I’m a little conflicted about the first ingredient listed. Is the “1 1/2 cup cowpeas of any kind” as in eleven and a half or one and a half cowpeas? Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      March 23, 2022 at 4:59 pm

      Phil: One and one-half cups! Sorry about that.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for NedNed says

    November 17, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    I was looking for recipes that use red palm oil after I had got some to make Brazilian moqueca and came across this. Love it. I made it twice in the past week! I soaked the peas overnight and then did them in the instant pot for 7 minutes then slow release (I live at altitude-Denver so I added a couple of minutes).

    Reply
  3. Avatar for MandyMandy says

    March 4, 2021 at 10:32 am

    This is my first comment and I’ve been following and using your recipes and game prepping tips for years. I love all, of the recipes I’ve made and this is just that latest to be added to the comfort food rotation, with the bonus of using a lot of what we grow and hunt. I appreciate your connection to food and yours is the ONLY food blog I can read and enjoy… there are only so many things that need to be said along with a recipe and your explanation and personality shine through in the right amount of words for me to have a thorough understanding and be entertained ?. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Avatar for JohnJohn says

    June 21, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    Just made a giant batch of this to have for my lunches during the week and wow, just wow. One of the most simple and yet delicious things I’ve ever had. I doubled down on the habanero since I like my food hot…will definitely be making again. I’ll be ordering your book for sure.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for sharonsharon says

    June 4, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    This recipe was surprisingly comforting, even on a 111 degree evening. I always grow black eyed peas in the summer gardens and was excited to find a new use for the crop. Adding in fresh tomatoes from the same garden made this meal extremely satisfying. I used olive oil in a pinch and served over white rice. Great, quick meal with plenty of left overs!

    Reply
  6. Avatar for MikeMike says

    June 4, 2020 at 12:47 pm

    Hank – I am really looking forward to trying this one out. Thanks for what you do, by the way. I generally don’t buy pork unless the local butcher has it. How do you think the recipe would fare subbing in some smoked bear chopped up instead? I’ve had a real bear of a time smoking an old, old Grizz (I’m guessing 15-20 year range). The flavor never disappoints, but man it tightens up and I feel like I’m chewing on a tire with some of the roasts I’ve tried to smoke. I’ve tried a variety of things, but hesitant to take it off the smoker at the temp I’d prefer ’cause of trich.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      June 4, 2020 at 12:58 pm

      Mike: I think that would be a great idea. Chop it small and let it stew in the beans.

      Reply
  7. Avatar for Jen NikolJen Nikol says

    May 22, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    Holy S#i#! Talking about world’s colliding! I lived in Ghana for a few years. This is a terrific dish ( I suggest going for a palm oil substitute since it is bad for the body and environment) and i love your blog. If you serve it with kele wele (spicy plantain) you will love it! Thanks so much for putting a smile on my face during the 10th week of complete lock down!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      May 22, 2020 at 1:42 pm

      Jen: Not all palm oil is bad for you or the environment. You can buy red palm oil, the unrefined stuff, that is sustainably farmed.

      Reply
  8. Avatar for Chris MorinChris Morin says

    May 21, 2020 at 5:20 am

    This looks great, Hank! I wonder if this is one of theAfrican precursors to Louisiana Red Beans and Rice? So many of our soul food favorites trace their roots back to African cookery.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      May 21, 2020 at 7:16 am

      Chris: I believe it is, actually.

      Reply
    • Avatar for IanIan says

      November 9, 2021 at 6:46 pm

      I just wanted to add for anyone who is hesitant on this recipe. It is amazing even when made vegan by substituting liquid smoke for the ham or smoked ham. It is one of my family’s favorite foods and makes great leftovers. We are not vegan and eat a ton of wild game but this is good any way you make it as long as the general ratio is followed. Thanks Hank!

      Reply
  9. Avatar for TroyTroy says

    May 21, 2020 at 4:53 am

    Hank,

    Sea Island Red Peas can also be had from Anson Mills, for those who are inclined to go the heirloom route.

    https://ansonmills.com/products/41

    Reply

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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw. I am a James Beard Award-winning author and chef and I focus my energies on wild foods: Foraging, fishing, hunting. I write cookbooks as well as this website, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild game, fish, or edible wild plants and mushrooms, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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