Hkatenkwan

When I was probably somewhere between the ages of 5-7 I went to a Girl Scount event. I don't remember a single thing about this event except there was food from different parts of the world at different tables. One of the stations had something from a country in Africa. It was served in one of those paper condiment cups, you know like you get your ketchup in if you dine in at a fast food place? I can still taste the paper... because after I ate whatever it was, I licked and licked and licked and licked that paper cup until I was sure that I could only taste the paper. (Those of you who know me will not find this surprising at all). It was the best thing in the world. It had a peanut flavor, that's all I know. To this day, I often think about what was in that cup. I want more of it.

A blog that I frequent has a section of recipes on it, and as I was skimming through, one caught my eye:

Hkatenkwan, I have no idea how to pronounce this... in fact, my brain doesn't even try. When I see that word, my brain just skips to the next word. The next word would be Groundnut Stew, which is the English translation of Hkatenkwan.

I decided to try the recipe last night, hoping that it would taste similar to that heavenly peanuty sample I had over 20 year ago.

I was beyond thrilled at the result. Of course, I don't remember what the Girl Scout thing tasted like exactly - but this recipe tasted exactly how I wanted it to. I also licked the plate last night until every last bit was gone - no, I never grew out of that.

If you like to try new recipes, or if you like to eat good food, I can't recommend trying this enough!

Hkatenkwan (Ground Nut Stew)

Ingredients:

Cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces (I used two large bone-in breasts)

1 Yam (diced)

1 Yellow onion (diced)

2 cups chicken broth

1 can condensed tomato soup
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

3/4 cup Peanut butter

1 cup brown rice

(optional: Fresh Cilantro, Black eyed peas, and a banana)

Preparation:

Sautee the yam and onion, set aside

Cook and cut the chicken, set aside

Combine tomato soup, chicken broth, ginger, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and peanut butter (and black eyed peas if you like them, which I don't). Whisk over a medium heat.

Add in the yam, onion, and chicken, and serve over brown rice.

Top with fresh cilantro (the recipe called for seving it with fresh sliced bananas on top, also which I don't like)

I sauteed my yam and onion in hot oil with fresh garlic and only turned them a few times, so I got them nice and charred. I also spiced up my chicken with fresh garlic, pepper, and season salt and cooked it in hot oil to get it a nice golden brown, then baked it in the oven until it was done.

FABULOUS!!!

If you try this recipe (which everyone should), let me know what you think!!

Also, if you have any recipes that you like - PLEASE SHARE THEM WITH ME!! I love trying new recipes.

And for you grandparents, I couldn't leave a post without some sort of mention or picture of Levi. So, I'll tell you that Levi loved his squash last night as much as I loved my African stew. Jarrod could not shovel it in his mouth fast enough to suit him. I think he's sort of like his momma in that regard. I'm sure if I let him have the bowl, he would have licked that clean too!

And here is a picture Jarrod took while Levi and I were both enthralled with American Idol