Chicken groundnut stew is, in various forms, common all over West Africa, and this is my version, inspired by my colleagues at UW.
Video: How to Make African Peanut Stew
The best way to make this stew is with two whole stewing hens—older chickens available at Asian and Latin markets. You start by simmering the birds to make stock, which then becomes the base of the stew, and then you use the meat from the hens. This is a bit labor-intensive for most, so I normally use pre-cut chicken parts: legs, wings and especially thighs. This stew is just made for chicken thighs. What is a little unusual about how you make the stew is that you first brown the chicken and then stew it on the bone. You can certainly eat it off the bone in the stew, but this is messy, so I prefer to fish out the meat and shred it. Why bother with the bones and skin at all? They add a ton of flavor to the stew. Sweet potatoes or yams are a must in the African version, but if you hate them, use regular potatoes or turnips. The stew is supposed to be pretty spicy, so I normally use a lot of hot sauce thrown in at the end of the cooking. I only call for 1 teaspoon of cayenne here, because no matter how chile-adverse you are, it ought to have at least a faint bite of heat. If you truly can’t take chiles, skip the cayenne. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 90 minutes (check after an hour), or until the chicken meat easily falls off the bone and the sweet potatoes are tender. Shred the meat off the bones and put the meat back in the pot. Filipino Oxtail and Peanut Stew - from Rasa Malaysia Out of (West) Africa - story by Sean Timberlake about an African peanut stew
