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Urhobo Orishirishi

Also known as Urhobo Orishirishi (Delta Assorted Soup)

Orishirishi — meaning 'all sorts' or 'mixture' in Urhobo — is an extraordinary Delta State soup that combines an almost bewildering variety of ingredients in a single pot to create one of the most complex and satisfying soups in the entire Nigerian culinary repertoire. True to its name, Orishirishi contains every available protein — assorted beef, goat, tripe, cow skin, smoked fish, fresh fish, stockfish, periwinkles and crayfish — all cooked together in a rich Banga-style pa

Urhobo Orishirishi, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • A big pot of fresh palm nuts OR 1 large tin palm nut extract
  • Half a medium goat, cut into pieces
  • 2 big handfuls of assorted beef (tripe, ponmo, ribs)
  • 1 big fresh catfish, cleaned and cut
  • 2 big handfuls of smoked fish, soaked and deboned
  • 2 big handfuls of stockfish (okporoko), soaked
  • 1 big handful of periwinkles (isam), cleaned
  • 1 big handful of dried prawns
  • 4 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
  • 4 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
  • 1 big onion, sliced
  • 3 pieces of oburunbebe stick
  • 2 big handfuls of dried atama leaves, crumbled
  • A small handful of uziza leaves, shredded
  • 3 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. 01

    Cooking All Meats. Season and cook goat and assorted beef in water for 35 to 40 minutes until tender. Add stockfish for the last 15 minutes. Reserve all the rich combined stock.

  2. 02

    Extracting Palm Cream or Preparing Canned Extract. Extract palm cream as in Recipe #069, or thin canned extract with 2 glasses of water.

  3. 03

    Infusing the Delta Spices. Pour palm cream into a large pot. Add oburunbebe sticks and crumbled atama leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the palm base with the Delta spices.

  4. 04

    Adding Everything. Add all cooked meat and stockfish. Add catfish, smoked fish, periwinkles and dried prawns. Pour in reserved meat stock. Add blended Atarodo, ground crayfish, seasoning cubes and salt. Stir the pot — the sheer volume of ingredients should fill it substantially.

  5. 05

    Long Simmering. Simmer the soup on medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring gently every 8 minutes. The soup will reduce slightly and the palm cream will deepen in colour and concentration. Remove oburunbebe sticks. Add uziza leaves in the final 5 minutes. Taste and adjust all seasonings. Serve hot in deep bowls.

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