I remember the first time I ate Guinea Fowl. It was at a hangout called Fridays in Sakumono. Fridays was a hype back in the day where most urbanites would travel all the way from different parts of the city to Sakumono to enjoy charcoal-grilled Guinea Fowl whilst sipping on chilled drinks at the pub. I went to meet an old friend who had moved to the area and Fridays was our first choice. The meat was hardy and more fibrous than chicken and with the flavor of khebab pepper it definitely was more delicious than chicken. But darn it was expensive eh?
I brought back two lightly roasted Guinea Fowl with me on my return from the North. Guinea Fowl is so much cheaper in the North as they are more indigenous to the savannah landscape than to the southern parts of Ghana. To preserve the meat, it was smoked and lightly roasted for my trip to the South. What can I prepare using smoked and roasted Guinea Fowl? An aunt of mine suggested a stew but seriously aren’t we tired of the same old pulse style of cooking? In all honesty I am. Tomato stew abr3 😅.
I later decided to create a soup recipe using a basic English-style Chicken soup inspo. All I needed was to create stock. Where was I going to get stock? Definitely not in the store. Even if they sold canned Guinea Fowl stock I would without a doubt make my own. Much healthier that way.
I have read loads of recipes for making Chicken stock and I just couldn’t believe it had to be on fire for almost 3 hours😩. It was only after I had chopped my vegetables and added the Guinea Fowl bones did I appreciate the importance of the low simmering process which brings out the juices in both the meat and the vegetables.
Guinea fowl stock on fire
For the stock, I used garden eggs, onions, kpakposhito, garlic, dry thyme and carrots. Western recipes call for the use of celery etc but these are expensive imported vegetables in Ghana and you don’t need to break the bank to create homemade stock. Use what you have at home.
The smokey flavour of the meat is quite captivating. My kitchen was enveloped in an exotic fragrance during the 3 hours of simmering.
- To make the stock, place leftover bones in a saucepan and add the vegetables. Cover with water and add a teaspoon of salt and local ground black pepper. This stock was enough for making soup for three people.
- Bring to a quick boil and reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for 3 hours. Guinea fowl has less body fat as compared to chicken, so there will be less protein foam to skim off the surface.
- After three hours, remove the bones and vegetables with a slotted spoon. Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the soup into a bowl and set aside. This stock was sufficient for making soup for three people.
To make the Guinea Fowl Noodle Soup, you will need:
Ingredients:
1 Large Red Onion Diced
1 Zucchini diced
1/2 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 Carrot chopped
2 Pieces of Chilli chopped
1 cup of whole wheat noodles
1 Cup Shredded Guinea Fowl meat
Watch the video I made below on how to make the soup.
Guinea fowl is leaner than chicken and a bit hardy so allow the stock to soften up the meat for about 10 minutes.
This is soup is so perfect for light dinner moments for easy digestion. If you are the type who loves more soup then you can increase the quantity of stock. I love more goodies in my soup so I used less stock.
I have some more Guinea fowl left in my freezer and I am unable to sit still just thinking of what next I could create! Yayy!
What other recipes have you used Guinea Fowl for aside the usual akomfem style that we are used to? Please do share in the comments below.