Friday 6 December 2013

Ofe Akwu (Banga Soup)



So I decided to cook something different this sunday. It's been almost 10 years since I made ofe akwu. Pounding those palm kernels was so nostalgic. I enjoy this dish but it's one of those I rarely make. This is different from the banga soup used to eat starchy solids. This one is used for rice and loved by every Igbo person I know especially my Nnewi friends ;) Anyway, let's get cooking already!

Ingredients:
1 medium sized basin of palm fruits
1 kg goat meat (or any meat u like)
1 cup of crayfish
2 onions
8 habanero peppers
2 bundles of scent leaves
1 medium bunch pumpkin leaves (ugu)
3 knorr cubes
Salt to taste.


Directions:
Boil the meat with seasonings, strain from the stock and set aside.

Wash the palm fruits and boil for about 20mins.


Drain the palm fruits from the water and put in a mortar.


Pound for about 20 minutes till it releases its chaff.


Transfer to a smaller basin and pour boiling water into the chaff.


Using a seive, remove the chaff and carefully strain the oil extract into a clean pot.


Repeat the hot water process till there's no more oil on the chaff. It'll be whiter that when you started.


Allow the extract rest and then decant into a fresh pot. You'll see debris sediments on d bottom of the pot...you don't want that in your food.


Boil the extract till it reduces to about half and becomes thicker.


Add your blended onions, pepper and crayfish. Add the meat and stock too and cover the pot to boil. It should thicken after a while.

Then add the ugu and scent leaves.


ENJOY with white rice.

23 comments:

  1. Wow, cooking made easy,Luv ofe akwu(lol)...nt igbo but stayed with some Nnewi family friends and I luved it. With this I'm itching to cook it for my mum.Thanks.

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    1. Hehe Felicia, u enjoyed the original ofe akwu. Nnewi pple dominate wen it comes to dis. Lol. Lemme hw it goes if u do cook it for ur mom.

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  2. Chi, y is my ofeakwu always watery? Is dia any special kind of palm fruit for it?.

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    Replies
    1. No dear, derz no special palm fruit for it. You probably don't boil it long enuf datz why itz watery. Make sure u boil till it's thick...den wen u put meat stock, boil more to thicken.

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    2. Hi Uju, Its also possible u used too much water to extract the oil from the palm fruits... Miss Issy.

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  3. You are wonderful. I love ur blog and I'm learning quite a lot.looking forward to being a chef of the week sometime soon :-)

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    Replies
    1. Tnx a lot dear...can't wait to get pics of ur dishes!

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  4. Hahaha! My specialty. Didn't even waste time before making it in this obodo...
    Do you remember when this cooking narrative of yours started? In that primrose room in Ixora house back in Jss 3.
    Well done dear!!!

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  5. nne you are really a true daughter of the soil.
    great job.

    ezechimereuchenna.blogspot.com

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    1. Hehe, Yes Uche...i gats to represent my state on here you know?

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  6. Just joined this blog and I'm really impressed with what I'm seeing here..... Keep it up Chi

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  7. Hi Chi...u don't use tin tomatoes?

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    Replies
    1. Noooooo…authentic ofe akwu has ZERO tomatoes!

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  8. okayyy,looks easy afterall.i like it with rice.so im gonna try it,not to soon tho...lol,
    thank you

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  9. when you add dry fish to the goat meat you will not like to eat fried stew again. I am salivating already.

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  10. Without dawadawa and opei in ofe akwu its not authentic enof hehehe. Only crayfish won't do for an original anambra babe like me. Nice job Chi! I am learning to make more tasty dishes here...

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  11. Is it the regular scent leaves they use for pepper soup?

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  12. Some dryfish and stockfish with little blended fresh tomatoes will make this taste better. .give it a try peeps.

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  13. Looking for a research project information on Native food like this. Thanks

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  14. Can my ofe akwu be thicken again
    I’ve been cooking it oooo

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  15. Chi please what else should I add to it
    It’s still watery for the past 2hours 🥵

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