Recipe for Bole

On our menu today is the South-South special, bole (pronounced bòlé). This food consists of roasted plantain, really spicy pepper sauce, and fish. Plantain is one of the major agricultural produce of Bayelsa and Rivers states. Both states are surrounded by rivers and creeks so fish is readily available. I don’t know how the sauce came about; since the sauce make sense die, all I can say in reference to it is, God bless the creator. Bole is sold in almost all the street corners of Yenegoa and Port Harcourt. But it can be made at home. Sit with me a while and I’ll show you how to prepare this meal at home.

Ingredients for Bole

Plaintain (unripe, half ripe or ripe)

Fish

Palm oil

Fresh tomatoes

Fresh pepper

Ginger

Seasoning cubes

Onions

Salt

Utazi leaves

How to Prepare

The first step in making bole is to prepare the ingredients for the pepper sauce. Please note that the ingredients for making pepper sauce should be enough to sauce the fish before roasting.

Peel the ginger and onions and rinse them alongside the tomatoes and pepper. Put these ingredients in a clean blender, add a little water and blend. Whether you achieve a smooth blend or a rough one is entirely up to you.

Divide the blended ingredients into two unequal parts. Rinse, peel and chop more onions, and set aside for later use. Rinse and slice the utazi leaves, and also set aside for later use.

In a clean pot, put the larger portion of the blended ingredients. Boil until the water in it dries. Add the palm oil and some chopped onions to the pot. Fry the tomato blend for some minutes. Add the seasoning and salt to taste. Fry for about two minutes and then turn off the heat.

The next step is to sauce the fish and prepare the plantains. To this end, cut the fish, remove all the intestine and rinse well. Take the smaller portion of the blended ingredients, add palm oil, seasoning cubes, and salt to it and stir.

Preheat your oven at 150°C because the plantain and fish need to roast slowly. Rinse and peel the plantain. Place the plantain on the grill rack in the oven. Dip each piece of fish into the sauce and also place it on the grill rack to start roasting. Remember to turn the sides of the plantain and the fish from time to time. When both are perfectly roasted, turn off the oven.

If your pepper sauce has gone cold, you can heat it up.  Serve the bole hot. Don’t forget to add a little utazi leaves on it.

Sources

Pitakwa Times

All Nigerian Recipes

Featured image source: Pulse NG

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udevi-obiamaka-angela

Udevi, Obiamaka Angela holds a Master of Arts degree in History & International Studies. She's a freelance writer with a passion for food and healthy living. She can be contacted through her email address, obiudevi@yahoo.com

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