One day, I was gisting and catching up with my friend, let's call her Chioma(may or may not be her real name). She, like me, loves food from home and & Nigerian movies. While we are bantering back and forth about delicacies & the great improvements of Nollywood, she encouraged me to watch this video.
Naturally, we are both on the woman's side. Her, because girl power. Me, because efo riro, egusi, ewedu, ila alasepo, gbegiri, etc.
Once the alliance was formed, it was time for us to discover what was actually worth the fight in this Ofe owerri. I told Chioma, I would make this thing some day soon. I'm still not sure why she didn't believe me the first time but I have since made this soup twice. The first time, with Eba; the second time, pounded yam.
I must honestly say, this soup is lit. The texture of it in your hands is just amazing, the taste, my GOD! My friends who came and ate some of it will gladly testify of the goodness of this thing to you as well. I, like the wife in the video was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of it all. I am almost upset that I didn't find out about this sooner.
The funny part of it, Chioma missed both occasions that I made it and SHE was the one that started the movement. I still find it funny that she didn't believe me when I said I would do it. *Sha, there will always be next time.
Moral of the story: Inspire others and believe.
Alright, Story time is over. Let's get into how I went about making it.
The Process
The recipe I used can be found here. No need reinventing the wheel if Aunty Dunni always come through in the clutch. However below are pictures from my culinary adventure in Ibo cuisine.
The Results
First Attempt (With Eba)
Second Attempt(With Pounded yam)
Tips
- Boiling the cocoyam is probably the most interesting part, you definitely need to wait till is soft otherwise you will not get a good enough paste when you blend it, you do not want lumps.
- The more cocoyam you use, the thicker it gets.
- If you use chicken as one of your choice of meats, take it out of the pot and re-introduce it when you are done so that the chicken does not break everywhere.
- Make sure you like the taste of the stock, that will set the tone for what you are doing.
- Spice up your life; don't be afraid to adjust the heat and seasoning to your liking & taste.
*Sha - in this context means, anyways. Normally in Nigerian slang, "sha" can mean anything you want it to mean from a phrase like by the way to anyways to as I was saying.
