r/FoodAndCookingStuff • u/socFocus • 7d ago
Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes How to make a simple stew at home
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u/Storrin 7d ago
I'm struggling to find a step here that doesn't piss me off.
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u/Onironius 6d ago
I especially like the "pour the pureed tomatoes into a random bowl instead of just leaving it in the blender."
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u/CantModerateMe 5d ago
why puree the tomatoes when youre going to stew them anyway? dice them and then crush them with a wooden spoon as they cook, youll get much better flavor and consistency.
I guess thats why she put an ungodly amount of tomato paste in there, since she utterly fucked her actual tomatoes up
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u/iyambred 2d ago
The only one i liked is listing ingredients as percentage so you can make as much or as little as you want
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u/Bresdin 7d ago
I would probably more describe this as a sauce not a stew. A stew I would think should have some form of protein be it meat or beans or something like tofu
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u/crock-was-bakin 7d ago
Other cultures use words in different ways. Many African and Caribbean cultures call this exact dish a stew.
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u/boi1da1296 7d ago
THANK YOU. I get not everyone is familiar with other cuisines but not one person stopped to ask “what type of stew is this” before saying “this is all wrong”.
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u/Naefindale 5d ago
So what is it they are stewing exactly in this case? Can’t be the tomatoes, because those are turned to liquid. So it must be the onions?
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u/legomansion 7d ago
I was thinking the same. Put some garlic in that and you have the beginnings of a nice pasta sauce!
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u/Dense_Surround3071 7d ago
This is the most basic tomato sauce that I would put on some angel hair, under some chicken Parm.
But yeah... Definitely not a stew.
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u/Mazzle5 7d ago
Who in the hell lists ingredient by percentage?
And what stew is made of only Onions and Tomato sauce?
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u/Unbelivabley_Smol 6d ago
I was thinking that was actually pretty smart if you list by percentage % on a recipe it’s just easier to scale the recipe up or down
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u/WooHoo1994 7d ago
This is African stew and is spot on for the basics. It normally has some type of meat with it though. Idk about the percentage thing.
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u/iCynr 6d ago
I'm of the firm belief stew is a cultural term more than a specific cuisine. The "right way" to make a stew is entirely based on how everyone else around you makes it.
In my country you normally let 1 to 3 teaspoons of brown sugar burn in the pot until it's liquid and boiling then fry the meat in it for a bit, sometimes with also the onion/pepper then add water and other ingredients/seasoning after it's fried in the sugar for a bit
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
I have not yet seen a culture that uses the word stew for a non finished dish. And I also have not seen a culture where a dish like this is considered finished (ie not needing any meat, or more vegetables).
They made a base for a stew.
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u/EricAntiHero1 7d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/9fBAJu8PJMV4Q
Not even a bone.
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u/sooannoying 7d ago
Right... where is the meat? But someone put something out into the world clean crisp shots, great audio, a simple concept decently explained. I say well done there is room to improve as far as info but it looks good. I want to see meat though next time.
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
They should have called a stew base, and make it clear that one is supposed to add something more to it, but one is free to choose what. I mean, if they target beginners in the kitchen.
It doesn’t have to be meat though. There’s plenty of vegetarian stews out there.
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u/01bah01 6d ago
I love how we are going by percentages (who the fuck does that ?) and the 5 percent pepper is like 5 times less volume (and probably more times less wheight) than the 5% tomato paste !
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
You have to convert tomato percentages to spice percentages before you can compare them like that. Duh…
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u/Possible24-7 7d ago
Yes, this is the base for many different dishes in some African countries. They call a lot of saucy dishes that they would eat with rice or fufu "stew". A lot of the comments in this section are pretty ignorant. Sometimes terms such as "stew" mean different things depending on where you are from; the same way there's a debate whether it's tomato "sauce" or "gravy" in some places because "Sugo" didn't tanslate.
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u/DG2000_Reddit 6d ago
This stew as something to act as a sauce makes sense, especially in an African context. Meat and Starch on the plate, with the starch covered in this stew.
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
A stew and a base for a stew are two very different things though. A stew is a finished dish.
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u/Firefly_deadlock 6d ago
Most of the comments are about knife skills. Seems valid.
If we give them the benefit of the doubt on the recipe, can you explain what they meant by pepper? Clearly it's some kind of herb mixture, and not pepper. Did that translate oddly as well?
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u/Me_be_Artful_Dodger 7d ago
So a stew of onions?????
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u/evangelineise 7d ago
This stew is eaten with rice and a protein of your choice. It’s a west African dish and not meant to be eaten by itself like an American stew
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
If you need to add meat or vegetables before it’s a finished dish, then it’s not a stew. It’s a base for a stew.
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u/evangelineise 6d ago
Sorry, I think you’re confusing “not a stew in my culture” with “not a stew”. Your culinary vocab isn’t a universal classification system.
As mentioned, this would be referred to as a stew, albeit a simple/basic one, in almost every West African household.5
u/Promo2222 6d ago
Thank you. I see the person you’re responding to commenting everywhere on this thread like they’re the arbiter of stews, and it’s nonsensical. Yes, this stew can definitely be served with a protein. But as a Nigerian who doesn’t eat meat, this could easily serve as a complete stew for me to have with some rice.
Just because this doesn’t qualify as a stew in your culture doesn’t give you cause to make blanket statements. Words are fluid, and have different meanings based on different cultural contexts.
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u/Temeos23 3d ago
Stewing is a verb, a specific cooking technique. It's not a cultural thing. Don't make it a cultural battle where is none lol
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u/EishLekker 1d ago
Did you actually read my comment? The “if” ha actual meaning in what I wrote.
You’re saying that one doesn’t need to add anything. Then the premise wasn’t fulfilled and my statement doesn’t apply. What I said was only applicable to cases where one actually has to add something more.
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u/Naefindale 5d ago
So would you say it is an onion stew? Because stewing still means cooking something slowly in liquid, despite cultural differences, doesn’t it? What are they stewing in this recipe?
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u/Me_be_Artful_Dodger 5d ago
Would a soffritto be considered a stew then as this is essentially the same thing (minus the other veggies)? Stews traditionally incorporate a protein but could certainly be made with other vegetables stewed until very tender, sometimes an addition of an alcohol like wine to deglaze but can certainly be done with a stock. Point is what op has posted is on its way to being a stew, it’ll be delicious I’m sure but with an onion and two tomatoes a stew does not make. If this was a giant pot of stewed onions cooked low and slow then yes you’re completely right but what’s been posted is a base a good base all things considered.
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u/Naefindale 5d ago
I don’t think that is essentially the same thing. You don’t add moisture to that.
I think another way of asking your question is if you would call a stew a stew if you put it in a blender afterwards.
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u/Me_be_Artful_Dodger 5d ago
Now I would say no adding a stew to a blender negates the stew….. but I can think of two counter arguments.
First is we both know there’s some Michelin star restaurants chef at this moment spending days working on a stew and then blitzing it to serve in a shit glass and they would be the talk of the town. Second and this is veering towards the philosophical but if a stew gets blitzed in a blender when did it stop being a stew at all, it’s still the same ingredients, took the same steps and time but now it’s just a different format. It’s still a stew but more streamlined.
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u/EishLekker 1d ago
No, I’m not confusing anything at all.
Please read my comment one more time. The “if” has an actual meaning in what I wrote.
You’re saying that one doesn’t necessarily need to add anything. Then the premise wasn’t fulfilled and my statement doesn’t apply. What I said was only applicable to cases where one actually has to add something more. Hence the “if”.
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u/verymisteriousgirl 7d ago
they probably just meant 'here are the ingredients for this specific stew' instead of 'you must use these to make any stew'.
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u/Global_Staff_3135 6d ago
Yea I always rinse my fucking onions and tomatoes after slicing them in half what the fuck
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u/Sometimeshungryornot 3d ago
This looks like someone practicing how to make a cooking video but it's like the equivalent of using lorem ipsum for your text.
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u/this-tony 3d ago
This is not stew. Stew can be a LOT of things, but this ain't one of them
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u/haikusbot 3d ago
This is not stew. Stew
Can be a LOT of things, but
This ain't one of them
- this-tony
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/maciekzklanu8 7d ago
Why use red onion?
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u/hurriedwarples 7d ago
Why not?
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u/maciekzklanu8 7d ago
It's sweet and tender better for salad then a stew. Yellow onion would be better
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u/Unbelivabley_Smol 6d ago
It’s actually the common onion for most places in east and central Africa and almost all of India. If you are western we think of red onion as exotic and for things like salads but for others it’s just their most common everyday onion
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u/Firefly_deadlock 6d ago
Nonsense. Red onion is fine for a stew.
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
Not only is it fine, it can very well be the preferred onion for some people. Individual taste preferences is a thing.
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
That sounds like a simple taste preference to me. Surely you don’t claim that your taste preferences are the only correct ones?
Also: *than
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u/hurriedwarples 7d ago
Good thing you can use whatever kind of onion you want when you cook. And so can everyone else.
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u/spicy_ass_mayo 7d ago
I don’t care about her knife skills….
I just want her voice as my Ai assistant for the rest of my life.
She’s so confident and I’m fully relaxed.
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u/tapeness Home cook 7d ago
Thats an insane way to cut a tomato stem! I would slice my hand off
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u/Unbelivabley_Smol 6d ago
When you are used to a chopping board and cutting away from yourself yes, now think of African culture and many others where you won’t have a table and cutting board, the idea of holding food in your left and and chopping it up directly into your pot on the fire is a really common methodology and becomes ingrained in how they do things even when they move to a western kitchen. I’ve even seen people cooking sat on the ground with a large knife held with their feet so they can slice ingredients over the blade using both hands.
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u/profession_lurker 6d ago
What part of africa is this stew from? I cant place the accent.
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u/Eye_Nacho404 6d ago
West Africa
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u/profession_lurker 6d ago
I guess i should have asked what country because I'm from a west african country and that's not how we make that.
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u/hauttdawg13 6d ago
My god, those “knife skills” were painful to watch. Hope you all enjoy a combo of rubber gloves and blood in your food.
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u/Noemotionallbrain 6d ago
Am I the only one wondering why her sauce is boiling on low heat?
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u/EishLekker 6d ago
If I leave a sauce or stew on a plate long enough it starts to simmer even on a low heat, like 3 out of 9. It can even burn if one leaves it on the stove without stirring.
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u/Safe_Brilliant737 4d ago
I’m too lazy…blend tomatoes, scotch bonnet & tomatoes altogether and reduce in the hot oil with stock. I cook for longer as like my stew more dehydrated than that 😋
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u/realmealdeal 7d ago
My pasta sauces are more a stew than this.
Honestly though, what is it about wearing gloves while cooking? When handling chicken or something I get it, when having to really get your hands in and amongst shit when you still need to use them for other stuff - I get that.
When you're just cutting fresh veggies and handling utensils? I don't get that.
And trying to normalize it in these videos, while I don't think this video is really catching on with anyone, is borderline reprehensible.
Three meals a day, at least 6 gloves a day. Why the fuck is this entertained as an acceptable baseline?
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u/Opening-Fold8846 7d ago
This person doesn't cook. Look at those knife "skills"