To My Woven Words! You are on your path to discovering how to prepare,
a mouth-licking, palatable recipe… You can and will prepare a
sensational Bitter leaf soup also known as ofe onugbu, just by following simple steps.
Bitterleaf Soup should not have even the slightest bitterness. This is achieved
by washing and squeezing the bitter leaves (and changing the water at
intervals) till all traces of bitterness has been washed off.
tastes bitter!
Ingredients
- Washed and
squeezed bitterleaf – A handful - 10 small
corms Cocoyam - 3 cooking
spoons Red Palm Oil - Assorted
Beef: Includes best cut, shaki (cow tripe) - Assorted
Fish: Dry Fish and Stock Fish - Pepper, salt
and ground crayfish (to
taste) - 3 stock cubes
- 1 teaspoon
Ogiri Igbo (traditional seasoning)
Notes on the
ingredients:
- If you are
outside Nigeria, you can use dried, washed and squeezed bitter leaves but
you need to first of all make the bitter leaves
soft and fresh again before adding them to the soup. - If you cannot
buy cocoyam corms where you live, you can use cocoyam flour. An alternative
to cocoyam flour is potato flour. See how to prepare the cocoyam flour or
potato flour before adding it to your soup at: How to Cook Nigerian Soups
with Flour as Thickener. - Ogiri Igbo is
optional; it gives Bitterleaf Soup a traditional taste.
Before you cook Bitterleaf Soup
- Make sure
that the bitter leaves are well washed, such that there is no trace of
bitterness left. If not, wash and squeeze it more. If the bitterness
cannot be completely washed off (which is usually the case with most
washed bitter leaves sold in the market), boil it for about 15 minutes and
wash in cold water. - Wash and cook
the cocoyam till soft. Remove the peels and use a mortar and pestle to
pound the corms to a smooth paste.
Cooking Directions
- Boil the
shaki (cow tripe), stock fish and dry fish in 1 litre of water till they
are well done. First sign of a done shaki is that the cuts will start
curling on itself. - Wash the beef
and add to the pot of shaki etc. and continue cooking. When the meat is
done, add 3 cubes of Maggi/Knorr and cook for 5 minutes. - Add pepper,
ground crayfish, bitter leaves (if they have not been parboiled) and cook
for 10 minutes. Then add the cocoyam paste (in small lumps) and the palm
oil then go to step 5.
Note: If the bitter leaves were parboiled to remove the
bitterness, then for step 3; add pepper, ground crayfish, the cocoyam
paste (in small lumps), the bitter leaves and the palm oil. In other
words, add all the ingredients at this stage. - Cover the pot
and leave to cook on high heat till all the cocoyam lumps have dissolved.
You can add more water if you feel that the soup is too thick. - Add salt to
taste and the soup is ready