Ampesi

the Ghanaian plain boil: yam cooked in salted water and eaten with kontomire, the thick green stew of cocoyam leaves ground with egusi, onion, and palm oil

Origin: Kumasi & Ashanti

From the journey of Yam.

Ampesi is boiled starch, and the whole art of it lies in what goes beside it. Yam, cocoyam, plantain, or cassava is boiled in salted water and served in thick pieces with a stew, and in the Ashanti country the stew is kontomire: cocoyam leaves boiled and ground, then cooked down with onion, tomato, ground melon seed, smoked fish, and red palm oil into a dense green sauce. Ghanaians call the pairing a heavy lunch, and they mean it as praise. Yam is the ampesi that people ask for by name, and Ghana has the yam for it. The country is the world's largest exporter of yam, and the variety that commands the price is pona, the white yam of the Brong and Techiman country, which boils dry and floury rather than wet.

Ingredients

Ampesi

  • 1 kg white yam (pona), peeled and cut into thick rounds
  • 1 tsp salt

Kontomire Stew

  • 400 g cocoyam leaves (kontomire), or spinach, washed and stalks removed
  • 4 tbsp red palm oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 scotch bonnet peppers, chopped
  • 4 tbsp ground egusi (melon seed)
  • 150 g smoked fish, flaked
  • 1 tbsp ground crayfish
  • Salt

To Serve

  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, halved (optional)

Method

  1. Boil the yam in salted water until tender but not collapsing, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
  2. Boil the cocoyam leaves in a little water for 8 to 10 minutes until soft, drain, and grind or chop them coarsely.
  3. Warm the palm oil in a pan, fry the onion for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and scotch bonnets and cook to a thick paste.
  4. Stir in the ground egusi and cook for 3 minutes, then add the greens, crayfish, and smoked fish with a splash of water.
  5. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring, until the stew is thick and the oil rises. Season with salt.
  6. Serve the yam in thick pieces with the kontomire beside it, and the eggs if you are using them.

Notes

Kontomire is cocoyam (taro) leaf; frozen leaves are sold in African grocers. Spinach stands in, but it is milder and needs less cooking. Ampesi is also made with cocoyam, plantain, or cassava, alone or in combination.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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