Ingredients

 

150grams lion's mane mushroom

150grams yam

150grams siew pak choy

2 medium-sized (very) red tomatoes

2 medium-sized red onions

​3 cloves of garlic

1 stalk of spring onion

2 medium-sized bird's eye chilli (optional)

1 heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder

I-2 cups vegetable stock

2-3 cups water

Sesame oil

Rice vinegar

Black pepper (optional)

Black salt

 

Note: Season and fry the mushrooms before cooking. Click here for a recipe. I'll share my recipe with you at some point. It's similar to the one I linked. Fry the yam before cooking. I also boil the stems of the siew pak choy to make my own stock.

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Method

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In a medium-sized pot, fry the sliced onions and garlic in sesame oil until lightly brown. Then add the spring onions and bird's eye chilli. If you don't like your soup spicy, leave the chilli out. Fry everything for a few more seconds before adding the cocoa powder, tomatoes and stock. 

 

Once this boils, add the fried mushrooms, yam and some water. Let it cook for another minute, before adding the fried mushrooms, fried yam, siew pak choy, a dash of rice vinegar, black salt and a little more water. Add the water gradually. You've to keep checking it for a bit.

 

Turn off the heat after thirty seconds, the minute you get the water and taste to a satisfactory level. Twist in some black pepper (if you want to) then cover the pot, but not fully.

 

Leave it that way for five minutes before covering the pot completely, because you don't want the vegetables to overcook and discolour. Yes, they'll still cook in the hot soup with the heat off.

 

You can serve this with quinoa, rice or bread. 

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I didn't have a proper name for this dish, but Chakabars' recent post about the world's cocoa coming from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, gave me one immediately. 

 

Thank you, Ghana. I'll work on something for the Ivory Coast, but for now, thank you so much Ghana. I love chocolate and to think that the men and women who slog to get them out to the world have never tried it, is maddening.

You're loved and appreciated. Not all of us are jerks. Many of us care about Africa and want truly fair and just trade to flourish. Where no one will ever be in need for anything to survive or thrive. Where choosing to be vulgarly wealthy, will be just that, a choice. A choice born out of fun and not greed.

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