African

Shito

Name: Shito
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: African
Ingredients: 80 ml vegetable oil; 80 g onion; 15 g fresh ginger; 2 garlic cloves; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 25 g ground dried red chilli; 20 g ground dried shrimp; 20 g smoked dried fish; 0.5 tsp salt; 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg; 0.13 tsp ground cloves; 2 tbsp water

The dark, fiery Ghanaian pepper sauce built from dried chilli, ground shrimp and smoked fish, fried slowly in oil until it turns almost black. Keeps for weeks in the fridge and is eaten by the spoonful with rice, kenkey, waakye, fried fish or eggs.

Sides Pescatarian Under 400 kcal Under 20g carbs

60 min15 prep · 45 cookMedium188 kcalper serving

Method

Put the 80 g of chopped onion, 15 g of peeled ginger and 2 of garlic cloves into a blender with the 2 tbsp of water and blend to a smooth, pourable paste.
Pick over the 20 g of smoked dried fish, removing skin and bones, and crush or grind it to a coarse powder. Have the 20 g of ground dried shrimp ready beside it.
Heat the 80 ml of vegetable oil in a small heavy-based saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers, then tip in the onion paste — it will spit. Lower to medium-low and fry for 15-20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until all the water has cooked off and the paste is dark brown, jammy and smells sweet rather than raw.