How to Make Easy Ofe Ugba (Oil Bean Soup) With Okra

Ingredients for ofe ugba

For  6 servings, you will need:

• 30 okra fingers
• 1 cup of ugba
• 2 pieces of dry fish (dry catfish or Mangala fish)
• 2 pieces stockfish (dry codfish)
• 1 smoked mackerel (smoked Titus fish)
• 2 cooking spoons palm oil
• Salt (to taste)
• Habanero pepper (atarodo, ose oyibo, atarugu: to taste)
• 1 handful crayfish
• 1 piece of ogiri (dawa dawa, iru)
• 2 onion
• Garden egg leaves (alternative: spinach)

Preparation of Ofe Ugba

• Rinse all the vegetables and fish thoroughly.
• Soak the stockfish for a few minutes and clean with a food brush.
• Soak the dry fish in cool or lukewarm water till soft. Clean, debone and break into pieces.
• Break the smoked fish into small pieces, debone and rinse.
• Grind the crayfish and the ogiri with a dry mill.
• Cut the okra fingers into pieces. Please do not blend okra, if you really won’t get a good result.
• Slice the onion into small pieces.
• Cut up the pepper into small pieces. You can grind it if you wish.
• Cut the garden egg leaves into small pieces.

Cooking Directions

• Place the stockfish in a pot, add some water and start cooking. Add water in small amounts and top up when necessary because you want as little water as possible in the pot when done.
• Add the dry fish, crayfish, ogiri, pepper, onions, ugba smoked fish, salt, and palm oil. Cover the pot and continue cooking on high heat. Stir often, so it does not burn.
• After about 5 minutes, add the leafy vegetable and okra, stir and add salt if necessary.
• Take the pot off the heat and transfer it to another container immediately so that the green vegetables stay green.

Serve Ofe Ugba with your favorite swallow.