OFE OWERRI- ORIGINAL RECIPE

Ofe Owerri is what I will like to refer to as the PRIDE OF THE HEARTLAND. My grandmother never misses an opportunity to prepare this food for my father whenever he hits the village. She calls it ‘nri eze’ (food for a king). The original recipe of this meal has being tweaked so many times to suite peoples taste and pocket. I am therefore going to share with you the original recipe of OFE OWERRI.

 

Ingredients

·         3- 4 pieces of Stockfish chunks and stock fish head

·         2 - 3 pieces of Dry Fish (Azu nkurkunku or Azu Asa)

·         1 cup of dry grounded Crayfish

·         2tbsps Ose Ikpo (Dry grinded pepper or chili flakes)

·         1 big bunch Ugu leaves – sliced

·         1 small bunch Okazi leaves (thinly sliced)

·         6-7 pieces of Ede (cocoyam). You can substitute this with Achi - a very popular soup thickening agent. You may not have the time to go through the stress of preparing the cocoyam paste for soup when Achi can suffice but Cocoyam is the REAL DEAL in Ofe Owere.

·         1 wrap of Imo state Ogiri - Locust beans (optional)

·         2 cooking spoons of Palm Oil

·         Salt

·         stock cubes

Instructions

1.   Season stockfish with salt, ½ cup of the crayfish, 1 tbsp. of dry pepper.

2.   HOW TO MAKE THE COCOYAM PASTE

3.   Wash the Cocoyam thoroughly and boil with the skin on in lots of water for 10 –15 minutes

4.   When cooked, peel off the skin and pound into a paste. The cocoyam is usually sticky so add a tablespoonful of palm oil. This does 2 things: it keeps the cocoyam from sticking to the mortar and also it enhances the color of the soup.

5.   Once the stockfish have softened, taste the stock and make any necessary adjustments to the flavor.

6.   At this stage, add the cocoyam paste in small portions with your cooking spoon or simply mix the ground 'Achi' powder with some water in a bowl, stir well and pour into the soup. Reduce the heat and watch the soup thicken. Stir thoroughly to ensure all cocoyam lumps dissolve totally into the soup. The soup could be runny or thick. Or it could be just in-between. Your choice.

7.   Add the palm oil and washed chunks of dry fish to the soup. (We are adding the dry fish at this stage to prevent it from dissolving in the soup) Part of the enjoyment is to pick pieces of fish from the soup while eating. Cover the pot and let the soup cook until the oil combines with the soup and looses that raw taste (this takes about 2-5 minutes)

8.     If you are using achi stir often to prevent the achi from sticking to the bottom of the pot

9.   Add the ogiri, the remaining crayfish and dry pepper and stir thoroughly.

10.      Thoroughly wash the vegetables with cold water. Wash twice or thrice to remove any traces of dust or sand. (it is advisable prefer to wash veggies before they are sliced. That way, vital nutrients won’t be rinsed off. But okazi is basically washed after slicing)

11.      Stir after adding the vegetables and allow to simmer on low heat for an extra 5 minutes then turn off the heat.

12.      Serve with your choice of 'swallow'.

Note that the Imo state ogiri is different from the Anambara state ogiri. It is however important to make use of the imo state ogiri.