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Oporo

Also known as Oporo (Shrimp Soup — Delta Style)

Oporo is a traditional Urhobo soup from Delta State made primarily from fresh small shrimp — the tiny, intensely flavoured shrimp harvested from the rivers and creeks of the Niger Delta. Unlike the large prawn stew of the coastal cities, Oporo uses small, wild-caught river shrimp in abundance to create a deeply flavourful, strongly seasoned soup that is enriched with palm oil, crayfish, Banga spices and the characteristic Delta aromatic herbs.

Oporo, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 3 big handfuls of fresh small shrimp (river shrimp), cleaned
  • 1 big handful of dried prawns — for extra depth
  • 2 cooking spoons of palm oil
  • 3 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
  • 4 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
  • 1 big onion, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ehuru (calabash nutmeg)
  • 1 piece 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
  • 4 glasses of water or light fish stock

Method

  1. 01

    Building the Delta Spice Broth. Place the oburunbebe stick in a pot with 4 glasses of water. Add crumbled atama leaves and ground ehuru. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the Delta spices into the broth.

  2. 02

    Adding the Base Ingredients. Add palm oil, blended Atarodo, sliced onion, dried prawns and ground crayfish to the infused broth. Add seasoning cubes and salt. Bring back to a boil.

  3. 03

    Adding the Fresh Shrimp. Add the fresh small shrimp to the boiling spiced broth. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through. Some shrimp will break down into the broth, enriching it with their natural sweetness and marine flavour.

  4. 04

    Finishing. Add uziza leaves in the final 3 minutes. Remove the oburunbebe stick. Taste and adjust all seasonings. The soup should be richly flavoured with shrimp, fragrant with Delta spices and deeply satisfying.

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