How to Make Authentic Ghanaian Light Soup

Mema wo aha! (Good day in Twi language). If you have been a frequent visitor to my blog, you would already know that I am a foodie who does not pass on an opportunity to try food from other cultures or countries. This time, we are off to Ghana to try the authentic Ghanaian light soup!

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In recent times, I guess because of how busy my life has become, I have been guilty of being that friend who finds calling a bit of a chore, but before you judge me, I have now been making a conscious effort to ensure I reach out to check on my friends. I had not seen my Ghanaian friend, Liz since my family and I moved out to Hamilton, Ontario in 2021.

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I recently reached out to her and our conversation ended with her inviting me over. Since it was soon to be Ghanaian Independence Day, she generously offered to make me the signature light soup and fufuo of the Ghanaians. Who am I to say no?!

Another spicy and aromatic dish you should try is the Nigerian Fish Pepper Soup.

Ghanaian Light Soup served in the asanka bowl — Ghanaian light soup served in the asanka bowl

What is Ghanaian Light Soup?

Light soup is a rich and aromatic soup made with peppers, assorted meats, spices and an array of condiments. It is a soup indigenous to the Akan people of Ghana. It used to be a soup widely made with fish (called Aklor or Nkra Nkra), but has over the years been adapted with different types of protein.

Very similar to Nigerian Pepper soup in its consistency, but very different as far as the ingredients are concerned.

The Ghanaian Light Soup is by far one of the richest soups I have ever tried. Considering how light and watery it appears to be, you may be misled to believe there is not much flavour here, as I thought before trying it. I am not ashamed to admit how wrong I was.

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Its taste is a mixture of woodsy and aromatic, all fused with a pepper mix that puts the “s” in spicy!

Ghanaian Light Soup would pair nicely with Easy Sadza | Ugali |African Cornmeal. Also, learn How to Cook Delicious Nigerian Egusi Soup.

Ghanaian Light Soup Ingredients

For this soup, here are some of the ingredients you will need:

Assorted Protein

We used a variety of proteins which amped up the flavour of the soup. The making of the soup starts with the cooking of meats- goat meat and goat tripe, we also added mackerel fish which we seasoned and cooked separately.

Eggplants

We used a combination of Thai and baby eggplant. The former was cut in halves and added in while the latter was boiled and blended.

deboning dry fish — okra, baby eggplant, scotch bonnets, dry shrimp amongst many other ingredients used to prepare Ghanaian light soup

Pepper Mix

At this point, you can tell there are very few African food recipes that do not call for a pepper mix or blend. The mix here is tomatoes, red bell peppers, scotch bonnets and onion, these are cooked with the meats before being blending.

Dry Fish & Shrimp

There are different types of dry fish, we used what we could find in our local African store. As for dry shrimp, this should be easy to find in your nearest Caribbean store.

Spices

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Liz and I purchased most of the spices used in their whole forms at the store and proceeded to grinding the quantity that was required for the soup.

Some spices used were aidan fruit (this was cooked whole), selim pepper and calabash nutmeg. Check out my post on pepper soup spices here for more detailed info on these spices.

Lima Beans

We bought a sizable portion but ended up using about 10-15 pieces of it, aside from the tomato paste which will be used in the soup, which also served as a thickening agent.

Okra

I wondered why the soup needed this, and Liz explained that it helps ease swallowing the fufu ball. You don’t cut it into pieces but cook it whole, and while eating, you should lightly pinch it with your fufu. We would need just a few pieces.

How to Make the Ghanaian Light Soup?

Cook the peppers, onions, and carrots with the seasoned meats before blending them. However, a quick warning: don’t attempt this soup if you’re in a rush; you must cook the meats until tender, as no one enjoys endless tugging at tough meat.

Also, after adding the pepper mix, it is necessary to cook for a reasonable amount of time to allow the meats to soak up the juiciness and flavour of the pepper sauce.

This soup is traditionally eaten with fufuo by Ghanaians, we settled for the plantain fufu as this is highly nutritious and not as heavy as the cassava fufu. Okay, I think it is high time we got into the recipe!