soo hungry! Ghana, where are you?

God, why am I always hungry? I long since stopped growing, and it's not like I actually do anything. All I do is breathe. Well, to be honest, I do slightly more than that. I also sleep like mad, eat, wash the dishes, shower, and surf the net. That is all that I do. And yet, I am always ravenous.
Anyway, my current hunger has led me to crave Ghanaian food. mmm, yummy. In case you're wondering why I crave such a thing, let me let you in on a little secret: I'm Ghanaian. So this craving is kinda normal, I guess. True, I consider myself American first and I haven't been to Ghana since I was 12–6 years ago–, but I've still got some Ghana in me. Sadly, it is only in my mind, and not in my stomach. As a way to torture myself, and to educate you, here's a rundown of all the things that I miss:

Fufu and soup:
Fufu is basically what happens when you take boiled cassava/yams/unripe plantains, pound them in a mortar and pestle, and add water every now and then until it becomes this chewy, soft, sticky, mass that you shape into a big ball/oval. Then you eat it with soup of your choice, with your hands. Technically, it's a faux pas if you actually chew the fufu instead of straight up swallowing it whole. However, I think it's an even bigger faux pas to choke and die, so I say fuck it and I chew the damn thing; at least I'm alive, bitches! It's possible to make fufu from a box, by boiling the flakes inside, but 1) that's not the same and 2) it's gross.

Red red: this is fried ripe plantains with bean stew, and it is the most awesome thing in the world. It's called red red because the plantains have a sort of red tinge to them when fried, and you use Palm Oil in the stew, which gives that a red color. Together, they are red red. Also, you can cook the plantains in Palm oil as well, which gives them an even BETTER red color and taste. The only downside is that the oil isn't the best for you. I don't want to go into how much more fat and cholesterol it has when compared to regular vegetable oil. This means you can't go crazy and fry everything in it, though it makes stuff so much tastier.

Jollof Rice: basically rice with veggies and meat. It's kind of like West African paella. Love how much room for creativity it gives you. I've seen jollof made with cinnamon, shrimp, beef, chicken, veggies/no veggies, super spicy/very mild, etc. I love how much the color varies, from brown to soft orange, to a fiery red-orange. And I love how good it is. Pretty much what you do is you heat up some oil, add onions, tomato paste, water, then tomatoes and peppers/whatever spice you want. Then, you add rice. The neat part is that the water and heat will cook the rice, which absorbs all the liquid and flavor and coloring, leaving it orangey. You also add your veggies (I prefer corn, green beans, and tomatoes) and meat (shrimp, chicken, canned corned beef,etc) while stirring the whole thing around and around to mix evenly. Then you pat it down, add some water on the top, cover it up and let it finish cooking. Then you nom nom nom to your heart's content. Isn't it so vibrant and pretty?

well, that's all for now. I'm super hungry now and I think I'll go make me some pancakes ( I know, that's nowhere near Ghanaian. whatever. Maybe I'll have another Ghana Food post later on...hope you find something you like!