Cucumber The Nutritious

On my way back from work everyday, I walk by a line of women selling fruits e.g. pears, groundnuts, garden eggs, and cucumbers among others. The good thing about these fruits are that they are fresh from the farms. That's to tell you how common it is tocome by fruits where I live. I could buy 3 cucumbers for N100 (about 60 cents). That's also how come I eat have developed a good appetite for cucumbers. they taste nice and I heard they are quite nutritious. So, I went online and

MOIN MOIN

I honestly don't know who owns this food. Some people say it belongs to the Yorubas, some say the Igbos. But the Moin Moin when done right is really delicious. I must warn you if you are prone to heart burns though. Well, heart burns or not, I like this food, especially when you enjoy it with Ogi (akamu) or soaked gari with sugar...mmmmm!

INGREDIENTS ----------- QUANTITIES

Dehulled beans ----------- 2 cups
Shrimps or Crayfish ----------- 1 cup
Onion (sliced)----------- 1 medium size
Tatashe(blended)----------- 4 big sizes
Tomatoes(blended)----------- 6 medium size
Fresh pepper(blended)----------- 2 medium size
Vegetable Cooking oil ----------- 1/4 cup
Maggi/knorr cubes ----------- 2
Water ----------- 1&1/2 cups
Salt ----------- to taste
Shredded Dry Fish(optional)----------- 1 whole fish
Boiled Eggs, sliced (optional) ----------- 3


METHOD

Blend the dehulled beans in a blender or in a local mill and set aside,
Heat the vegetable oil for 2 minutes
Add the onions, tomatoes, tatashe, fresh pepper and shrimps
Fry for 10 minutes, stirring continuosly at intervals and set aside
Add the sauce to the blended beans
Pour in water and blend till fine.
Dissolve Maggi or Knorr cubes in a little hot water(this helps to melt the cubes properly) and add to the mixture.
Add salt to taste.
Mix properly
Prepare foil wraps, or small plastic plates with covers
Using a scoop, wrap the mixture in small portions or scoop mixture into the small plates.
Optional: add the shredded fish into each portion, or the slices of boiled eggs
Place on a raised pot base. Steam till firm (about 40 minutes). make sure the pot doesn't go dry, so that means you have to keep checking to add a little water for steaming.
Serve with vegetables, Ogi (akamu) or soaked gari with sugar and mmmmmm!

How to Cook Bitter Leaf Soup/ Onugbu Soup

This soup has a divided fan-base. some do not like it just because of the smell of Ogiri, while some love this soup for the taste. I'd say kudos to the founders. Onugbu soup is indigenous with the the Anambra people (an Igbo-speaking part of Nigeria). Every occassion celebrated by the Anambra people is not complete without the Onugbu soup. I personally like it (not love), and one thing I'm sure of is the fact that it's very nutritious.

Onugbu Soup/ Bitter Leaf Soup/ Ofe Onugbu

INGREDIENTS ---------- QUANTITIES

Beef or Goat meat(optional) ---------- 8 medium pieces
Stockfish ---------- 1 medium size
Smoked fish ---------- 1 medium size
Onugbu or Bitter leaves (shredded & washed) --- 1 large bunch
Cocoyam (as thickner) ---------- 3 small sizes
Crayfish (ground) ---------- 3 tablespoons
Palm Oil ---------- 2 cooking spoons or half a cup
Dried pepper (ground) ---------- 1 tablespoon
Ogiri ---------- 1 wrap
Maggi Cube or knorr cube ---------- 2 cubes
Water ---------- 2 litres
Salt ---------- to taste.

METHOD
Wash and boil the stockfish for about 35 minutes to soften.
Peel and boil the Cocoyam for about 20 minutes till soft.
Strain the Cocoyam and pound to form a paste.
Place the pot on the burner.
Add water and allow to boil for about 3 minutes.
Add the palm oil, stockfish, washed and boned dried fish, crayfish, pepper and the Cocoyam paste.
Stir and allow to boil for 10 minutes.
Add Maggi Cubes, Ogili and the washed Onugbu leaves.
Cook for another 10 minutes. The soup should thicken by now.
Stir and taste the soup.
Add salt and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Serve with cassava fufu, Eba or with pounded yam.

AFANG SOUP

Like I love to say "I wouldn't post it if I haven't eaten it, or if I don't know some that has eaten it" This is one soup I haven't seen haters for it yet. Afang soup is known to be of Cross-Rivers, and Akwa-Ibom origin. I really like whoever came up with this soup. You must note that Afang soup is not cooked with a lot of water, since there's Water Leaf in it, which secretes most of the liquid in the soup.

AFANG SOUP

INGREDIENTS QUANTITIES

Beef 8 medium pieces
Stockfish head 1 Small size
Cow Skin 10 medium pieces
Smoked fish 1 medium pair
Perewinkle (I prefer the ones not in the shell) 2 cups
Afang leaves (Finely shredded and blended) 1 medium sized mudu (plastic container)
Water leaves 5 small bunches or heaps
Onion 1 bulb
Crayfish (ground) 4 tablespoons
Dry Pepper 1 tablespoon
Or
Fresh Pepper (preferable) 4 large size
Palm Oil 1 cup full
Maggi Cubes or
any of the cubed seasoning like Knorr 3 cubes
Water 2½ litres
Salt To taste


METHOD

Season the beef with a little salt, dry pepper and Maggi Cube.

Steam till water dries up. Add 1 litre of water, the stockfish head, cow skin and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.

Pound or blend the finely shredded Afang leaves till very fine.

Pick, wash and shred the water leaves finely.

Wash and debone the fish. Add the remaining water, the fish, crayfish, pepper, the remaining Maggi Cube and the periwinkle.

Stir and allow to boil for about 5 minutes.

Add the waterleaves, stir and cover the pot for about 5 minutes add the Afang and stir thoroughly.

Add the palm oil, Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve with Pounded Yam, Cassava Fufu, or Eba (Garri).

OGBONO AND OKRO SOUP WITH EBA

It's all about the soup...lol! it has to look, smell and taste good. Okro is that soup. The Okro seed is used in many ways, sometimes boiled and mixed with tomato stew and eaten with eba or pounded yam by the Yoruba, it's also cooked as a proper soup by the Igbos. Either way it's enjoyable. Ogbono on the other hand, is also a popular soup that tastes really nice. It also has diverse preparations depending on the ethnicity. In case you do not know, the two (Okro and Ogbono) have srong consistencies and have earned them a nickname by Nigerians - Draw Soup. The combination of both Okro and Ogbono in one soup is mainly the idea of the Ibibios and people from Akwa ibom and Cross Rivers states. I think, they knew what they were doing, because this combination tastes really good. Here's how to make the proper soup.

OGBONO AND OKRO SOUP

Ingredients -------- Quantities
Meat -------- 10 pieces
Stock fish head -------- 3 small wraps
Smoked fish -------- 1 medium size
Cow skin (Pomo) -------- 10 small pieces
Crayfish (ground) -------- 2 tablespoons
Okro -------- 20 medium size
Palm oil -------- 2 cooking spoons
Ogbono -------- ¼ cup
Onion -------- 1 small bulb
Ugu -------- 1 small bunch
Uziza leaves -------- 1 small bunch
Bitter leaves -------- 1 small bunch
Fresh pepper (yellow scented type) -------- 4 medium sizes
Maggi/Knorr cubes -------- 2
Water -------- 2 liters
Salt -------- to taste


METHOD
Wash the meat, season with salt, chopped onion and maggi/knorr cubes, toss and steam till the juice dries up.
Add the stockfish head and 3 cups of water and cook for about 20 minutes.
Grind the ogbono seed to a fine powder.
Wash and shred the okro, ugu, and uziza leaves.
Wash the bitter leaves thoroughly.
Heat the palm oil for few minutes, add the ground ogbono , stir thoroughly to dissolve in the oil, then add the meat, stock fish, stock and the remaining water.
Stir; add the crayfish, pepper, the fish and the thoroughly washed cow skin.
Allow boiling for about 10 minutes then adding the okro, ugu, uziza, and the bitter leaves, stir.
Whisk with the spoon to increase the resilience.
Cook for about 7 minutes.
Stir and add salt to taste.
Simmer for few minutes.
Remove from heat and serve with Hot Eba

NOTE: Don't cover the pot while cooking so that it doesn't cut off the resilience, and leave the lid uncovered until the soup cools down (that's how the moms do it)

HOW TO COOK OHA /ORA SOUP

Oha soup is delicious...! It's one of my favorite dishes (when cooked right). It's one of the main soups you'll find in Abia state, one of the Igbo speaking parts of Nigeria. The trademark of this soup that gets me is the shredding of the Oha leaves with your hands. careful, they can stain the fingers.... but with the taste that follows, do you really mind?
Enjoy this one and lemme know how it turned out.

OHA /ORA SOUP

INGREDIENTS ------- QUANTITIES

Oha/Ora Leaves ------- 1 medium bunch
Dried Meat or Fresh meat ------- 10 medium pieces
Smoked Fish ------- 1 medium size
Stock Fish ------- 3 medium pieces
Oporo/shrimps ------- 1 Cup
Crayfish (ground)------ half cup
Ogiri ------- 1 wrap
Achi ------- 2 tablespoon
Dry pepper (ground) ------- 1 tablespoon
Palm Oil ------- 1 cooking spoon
Water ------- 2 litres
Maggi / Knorr cubes -------- 2
Salt ------- To taste

METHOD
Boil the stockfish till soft
Add plam oil
If using dried meat, soak the dried meat in boiling water for 6 minutes, then wash thoroughly to remove sand and burn smell, and if using fresh meat, have it already seasoned and boiled along with the stockfish
Boil two litres of water
Add the stockfish and the meat
Wash the smoked fish and add
Wash the Oporo
Grind the Achi and dissolve in cold water thoroughly and add to the soup. Stir.
Add the Oporo, dry pepper, Ogiri, ground Crayfish, Maggi/Knorr cubes
Stir thoroughly and reduce the heat
Pick wash and cut the Oha leaves with your fingers
Add to the soup and salt to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes
Serve with cassava fufu