Ofe achara is a delicious soup that hails from Abia State. There are two major ingredients for this soup. The first is achara which is derived from the edible elephant grass. The second is grinded melon seeds which the natives mould and which they call akpuruakpu egusi.
Read more about Nigerian Foods
Ingredients:
Egusi
Osu
Okazi leaves
Achara
Palm oil
Stock fish
Dry fish
Locust bean (iru, ogili okpei)
Stock cubes
Fresh pepper
Crayfish
Dry pepper
Salt
Method of Preparing Ofe Achara
Soak the stock fish in lukewarm water for about ten minutes. Peel, rinse and dice one large onion bulb. Rinse the beef and stock fish and put them in a clean pot. Add part of the chopped onions, stock cubes, salt and water to the pot. Cook on medium heat until they are tender. Soak the dry fish in lukewarm water. When it softens, debone and rinse then set aside for later use.
Grind the egusi seeds and the ósú with a dry mill grinder. Also grind the crayfish and locust bean.
Peel the achara. If this is your first time of doing this, you might want to pay attention to what I’m going to this. The edible part of the elephant grass is sheltered by a thick dark green skin. So, to get to the main thing you have to discard the covering. Another thing to bear in mind is that the edible part of the elephant grass is brittle. Thus, while peeling, any part of the shoot that is not fragile should be discarded.
When the tender shoot is revealed, break into medium sized pieces. Rinse the pieces of achara thoroughly and set aside for later use.
Blend or pound the fresh pepper. Get two clean, dry bowls; use them to divide the egusi into two unequal parts. Season the larger portion with dry pepper, some of the crayfish and the locust bean. Please note that if the egusi is not well seasoned, the mould will taste bland when one bites into it.
Add some of the meat stock to the egusi and mix till it forms a thick dough. Mould the egusi dough into flat discs, as big as a coin, and set aside. When you’ve finished moulding, boil some water in a pot and put the moulded egusi into it. Cook for about ten minutes on medium heat.
Put the pot of meat back on fire. It should still contain some stock. Add the dry fish, fresh pepper, the remaining diced onions, and seasoning cubes. Also add the remaining crayfish and locust bean blend.
When the content of the pot is brought to the boil, remove the dry fish. Then add the remaining ground egusi to the stock and cook. Stir the pot often to avoid burning. When necessary, add the water you used in boiling the moulded egusi.
Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
Cook till you see some clear egusi oil come to the surface; this should take about twenty minutes. Once you see this, add the palm oil and the boiled egusi mould, achara, okazi, and the dry fish you took out earlier.
Add salt to your taste. Cover the pot and when it comes to the boil again, turn off the heat. Your soup is ready. You can serve ofe achara with any swallow of your choice.
Source:
All Nigerian Recipes
Featured image source: @catering_delight_catering – Instagram
Got something you want to read about on our platform? Contact us via editor@connectnigeria.com