My Favorite Recipe For The Infamous South Southern Nigerian Native 'Ofo' Soup

Hello SteemFoods, I'm happy to share yet my first soup recipe with this delightful community. This is a recipe for a popular native soup in Rivers State, south southern Nigeria. The soup is known as 'Ofo soup'

WHAT IS THE MAJOR INGREDIENT OF OFO SOUP

Ofo is the major ingredient of ofo soup, little wonder the soup is named after it. Ofo is basically pulverized air-dried detarium microcarpum seeds. It acts as a soup thickener and is used as a thickening ingredient whenever it is added to any soup. For the natives of Rivers State, Nigeria, ofo can go alone, as the major ingredient that is.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF OFO SOUP

Ofo (detarium microcarpum seeds) is an anti-oxidant as well as a hepatitis C inhibitor. It is also an anti-diabetic. Other ingredients like fish and beef replace worn-out tissues and help develop muscle mass as they contain protein. Fish especially is rich in vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids, which is always good news for the heart, as well as calcium, phosphorus, and minerals. Beef is so rich in vitamins, minerals, and iron which reduces the risk of anaemia.

OFO SOUP RECIPE

These are the ingredients for preparing ofo soup -

Servings - >12

Ingredients -

Ofo (detarium microcarpum seeds) - 100g
Okazi leaf (Gnetum Africanum) - 250g
Fresh pepper - to taste
Beef - 700g
Cowhide - 200g (optional)
Isam (Periwinkle) - 1kg
Onion - 1 bulb
Crayfish - 200g
Fish - 300g
Stockfish - 300g
Palm oil - 200mL
Stock cubes - 2 small pieces
Salt - to taste

Preparation

If you're not conversant with prepping periwinkle for cooking, it's advised you first read step 4.

Step 1
Put your stockfish into a basin of freshly boiled water and allow it to soak for 3 min before taking it out of the hot water. While you're waiting for the 3min soak, you can dice your cowhide into tiny pieces and soak it in water.

Step 2
Wash your fish and beef thoroughly then put your stockfish, fish, and beef into a pot of boiling water. The water should be about 1.5L. Allow them to boil for about 10mins or until they become tender. While this is going on, you can then grind your pepper and crayfish and also wash your Okazi leaf (Gnetum Africanum). Add your ground pepper and crayfish while the fish, beef, and stockfish are boiling.

Step 3
After your fish, beef, and stockfish must have boiled for 10min you can then add your 250mL palm oil and allow it to continue boiling for another 5 mins or until the oil is properly heated. During the waiting period, you can wash your periwinkle thoroughly. If you don't know how to prep periwinkle for cooking, check step 4.

Step 4
If you're conversant with prepping periwinkle you can skip this step. Break of the bottom of the periwinkle and a chunk of the head too. Then soak with water containing a tablespoon of salt for about 10mins. After that, wash thoroughly to remove the dirt in and on the seafood. If you wash it properly, it should look something like this -

Then pound your properly washed and diced Okazi leaf (Gnetum Africanum) together with some diced onions. This is because the Okazi leaf (Gnetum Africanum) is quite hard.

Step 5
After your oil is well heated, add your ofo (detarium microcarpum seeds). Stir as you add. This is because ofo has the tendency of coagulating into small lumps in the soup. This is not ideal. After adding the ofo, take some time to identify small ofo lumps and crush them while the soup boils. Allow the soup to boil for about 10mins or till the ofo becomes gelatinous

Step 6
Then you can add your properly washed periwinkle (this is optional) and your properly washed cowhide and stir to prevent the soup from burning.

Step 7
Allow the soup to boil for some time after adding your periwinkle and cowhide, say about 5mins or till the cowhide is tender. After that, you can then add your properly washed Okazi leaf (Gnetum Africanum) and stir. Allow the soup to boil for an extra 2mins.

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Your ofo soup is ready. Serve Hot!

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All pictures used in this post were taken by me and are mine, no citations required