Sunday Lunch · Smooth Rice Balls
Omo Tuo (Rice Balls) with Groundnut Soup
Photo: DaSupremo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Omo tuo means simply "rice balls" in Twi — broken or overcooked rice is deliberately used because it mashes down smoother than whole grains, then shaped by hand into dense, glossy balls.
Rice is boiled with extra water until very soft, then beaten smooth with a wooden spoon and shaped into palm-sized balls. It's ladled into a bowl of spiced peanut soup with meat or fish, a chop-bar lunch staple across the Ashanti Region.
Why it's made this way: Omo tuo gives rice the same soup-soaking role that fufu gives cassava, and it became a fixture of Kumasi's chop bars as an easier, faster-to-serve alternative on busy lunch days.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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