Ofe Akwu is one of the national dishes in Nigeria. It originated from the Southeastern part of the country. People from the Niger Delta are also familiar with the recipe of the stew. Not so many people know that there is another name of the dish, the Nigerian Banga Soup. Those that live in the area of Niger Delta are accustomed to eating this course with Pounded Yam and Cassava Fufu. There are a dozen variants of Ofe Akwu recipe, but we will talk about the best and easiest one!
Ofe Akwu recipe and cooking advices
The national dish of the Niger Delta region and Southeastern part of Nigeria in the most cases is eaten with such meals as:
- Pounded Yam
- Garri
- Semolina
- Starch
In the Southeastern regions of Nigerian people refer to this dish as Ofe Akwu. It’s not just a play of random words, you know! Ofe actually means Stew or Soup so it is a very important part of the name. Meanwhile, Akwu stands for palm fruit.
If you want to know how to cook Ofe Akwu properly, you have to keep in mind that palm fruit oil that we use in this case is not exactly the same as the red palm oil that we use when we cook other Nigerian dishes. It has its special features. Palm Oil is extraxted from the palm fruit fiber mass in high temperature. However, the palm fruit oil that we use for cooking the Banga Soup is extracted in low temperatures. It is a mixture of palm oil and watery substance.
Here's the list of the ingredients that you need to possess in order to cook Ofe Akwu:
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What you need to do before cooking:
- Before you start cooking Ofe Akwu Stew, make sure that you have extracted the palm fruit juice from the palm fruits. If you are using canned fruits, open the can and set it aside.
- The second important trick that you need to pay attention to is that the beef and dry fish should be cooked with at least 1 diced onion.
- Add a couple of bouillon cubes and wait until it's done.
- Wash and cut the scent leaves as tiny as possible. This will give a remarkable scent to the Ofe Akwu.
- If you are not in Nigeria right now, it will be quite a difficult task to find these little beauties but you can substitute this ingredient with pumpkin leaves, for example.
We’ve almost done with our preparations, so we are going to start cooking very soon!
- If you prefer your dish to be cooked in the style of Niger Delta ofe Akwu, you may use dried bitter leaves or cook it without vegetables at all.
- Now all you need to do is to finish cutting the rest of the onion bulbs.
- Crumble the crayfish, pound some pepper and ogiri okpei in a mortar and put it aside.
How to cook Ofe Akwu: step-by-step guide
- Set the pot with the palm juice on fire and keep cooking at high heat. Wait until it is boiled.
- Afterwards you will see some red oil coming to the surface of the palm juice.
- If you think the soup is watery, continue cooking until it acquires the consistency you prefer.
- Now it is time to throw in some stock, dry fish and onions.
- Don’t forget to add some pepper and crayfish as well.
- Now leave to cook.
- Remember those scent leaves (or pumpkin leaves)! It is time to add some of them.
- Add salt to taste.
- Serve the dish with white rice. Or with Amala, Pounded Yam or Garri.
- If you are using tinned palm fruit juice, you need to wait until the beef and fish are well cooked.
- Afterwards add the canned palm juice and water into the boiled meat until it gets the thickness you like.
- Then you need to do the same things described above: add some crayfish, onions, ogiri and let it boil very well.
- Throw in some scent leaves or anything similar and leave to simmer for at least 2 minutes.
Congratulations! Ofe Akwu is cooked! Bon appetit!
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Source: Naija.ng