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