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Ofe Owerri

Also known as Ofe Owerri (Owerri Special Soup)

Ofe Owerri is a prestige soup named after Owerri, the capital of Imo State, and is widely regarded as one of the most complex and sophisticated soups in all of Igbo cuisine. What makes Ofe Owerri unique is the extraordinary combination of ingredients it employs — it contains bitter leaf, ugba (oil bean), cocoyam thickener, multiple proteins, and a carefully balanced blend of local Igbo spices including ogiri, ehuru (calabash nutmeg) and uziza.

Ofe Owerri, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 4 big handfuls of fresh bitter leaf (onugbu), washed and squeezed
  • 2 big handfuls of ugba (fermented oil bean / ukpaka), sliced
  • Half a medium goat, cut into pieces
  • 2 big handfuls of stockfish (okporoko), soaked
  • 2 big handfuls of smoked fish, soaked and deboned
  • 1 big handful of fresh or dried mushrooms
  • 3 cooking spoons of red palm oil
  • 5 medium cocoyams (ede), boiled and pounded — for thickening
  • 3 big handfuls of ground crayfish
  • 4 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
  • 1 tablespoon of ogiri okpei (fermented castor seed)
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ehuru (calabash nutmeg)
  • A small handful of uziza leaves, shredded
  • 1 big onion, sliced
  • 3 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. 01

    Washing the Bitter Leaf. Wash the bitter leaf thoroughly in 6 to 7 changes of water, squeezing vigorously each time until pleasantly bitter but not overwhelming. Set aside.

  2. 02

    Cooking the Meat. Season all goat meat with salt, seasoning cube, onion and a pinch of uziza seeds. Cook in water for 35 to 40 minutes until very tender. Add stockfish for the last 15 minutes. Remove all meat and reserve the rich stock.

  3. 03

    Preparing the Cocoyam Thickener. Boil peeled cocoyams for 25 minutes until soft. Pound until completely smooth. Set aside.

  4. 04

    Building the Soup Base. Pour reserved stock into a wide pot. Add palm oil, blended Atarodo, ogiri okpei, ground ehuru and ground crayfish. Stir well. Add the cooked meat, stockfish and smoked fish. Season with remaining seasoning cubes and salt. Bring to a steady simmer.

  5. 05

    Adding Cocoyam Thickener. Add the pounded cocoyam in small pieces to the simmering soup. Stir well after each addition. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring regularly, until the soup is smooth and moderately thick.

  6. 06

    Adding Ugba and Mushrooms. Add the sliced ugba and mushrooms to the soup. Stir through. Cook for 8 minutes — the ugba adds its characteristic fermented, earthy depth to the soup.

  7. 07

    Adding Bitter Leaf and Uziza. Add the washed bitter leaf and shredded uziza leaves. Stir very well through the entire soup. Cook for 10 more minutes on medium heat. Taste and adjust all seasonings — the soup should be deeply complex, slightly bitter from the onugbu, fragrant from the uziza and ehuru, and extraordinarily rich. Serve hot.

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