sh*to (Ghanaian Hot Pepper Sauce) (2024)

sh*to (pronounced SHEE-toe; short for sh*tor din) is a Ghanaian hot pepper sauce. sh*to is used as a seasoning or condiment in a lot of Ghanaian dishes. This includes yele kakro, tatale (typically used in the bean sauce), and rice dishes such as jollof rice and my personal favourite, waakye. I don’t limit myself to using sh*to for only Ghanaian food, I use it for Caribbean food, Chinese food, just about any food that I think will go well with it.

The original recipe for sh*to came from the Ga people of Ghana but now a days just about every region of Ghana has their own version of the sauce. The ingredients that are commonly used in sh*to are dried chili peppers, dried fish, ginger, and oil (usually vegetable oil). Some versions of sh*to include tomatoes, dried shrimp, onions, and garlic. This recipe for sh*to is my mom’s recipe that she is kindly allowing me to share. I might be a little biased but I think my mom has the best sh*to recipe.

Ingredients to make sh*to

To make sh*to, you’ll need 8 fresh or frozen sardines, 120 g of whole dried chili peppers, 2 medium onions (roughly chopped), 2 medium fresh tomatoes (roughly chopped), 3 garlic cloves (chopped), 2¼ cups of water, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 500 ml of vegetable or canola oil (plus extra, if required).

How to make sh*to

If you purchased frozen sardines, let the sardines completely thaw. Clean the sardines, removing the scales from the fish. If you don’t know how to do this, you can get the fishmonger to do it for you, if you buy fresh sardines. If you’d like to learn to do this yourself, here’s a YouTube video that shows an easy way to clean sardines. Place the sardines on a lightly greased baking pan and bake them in a preheated oven (350°F/175°C) for 1 hour; we want the fish to be very dry.

Once the sardines are done baking, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely. Cut the fish lengthwise and use a fork or your fingers to remove the bones from the sardines. Discard the bones and break the sardines into smaller pieces. Place the sardines in a blender, add one cup of water to the sardines and blend them into a puree.

Place the chili peppers into a blender with 1 cup of water and blend the chilies until they turn into flakes; you might need to do this in small batches. Pour the blended chilies into a bowl and set aside. If you are using chili pepper flakes, skip this step of blending the chilies in the blender. Pour the onions, tomatoes, and garlic into the blender along with ¼ cup of water, blend until everything turns into a puree.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan on the stove at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the blended chili peppers to the oil as well as the onion and tomato mixture. Pour the blended sardines into the pepper mixture and add the salt and black pepper. Mix everything together using a large spoon. Let the sauce cook for 1 hour or until the colour turns very dark brown. Stir the sauce occasionally as it is cooking to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the stove and let the sauce cool completely.

How to can sh*to

Sterilize mason jars to can the sauce (there are YouTube videos on how to properly can sauces). There should be at least ½ inch layer of oil on top of the sauce in each mason jar. If there isn’t enough oil on top of the sauce, you will need to heat extra oil, let it cool completely and then pour it on top of the sauce. The oil helps to preserve the sauce so you want to make sure that the sauce is covered with enough oil. Cover the jars with lids and store the sh*to in the fridge. I find that the sauce usually lasts for 3 months when properly canned. sh*to is used to season food and as a condiment. Enjoy!

Related Ghanaian Recipes

• Ghanaian Jollof Rice

• Yele Kakro (Ghanaian Yam Balls)

• Tatale (Savory Plantain Pancakes)