NIGERIAN OHA SOUP RECIPE

[Gimbiya]

Nigerian oha soup recipe


Oha soup is on a menu today, a traditional soup that is indigenous to the Eastern part of Nigeria. With oha leaves, assorted meat and cocoa yam or achi as its main ingredients, this soup is known to be close to the heart of all easterners. it however, has become very popular and now relished by most Nigerian families. 

Oha soup or ofe ora as it called in some regions, has similarities in its preparations with bitter leaf soup (Ofe Onugbu), the distinction lies in the use of the special oha leaves which has its distinctive taste that sets it apart from other vegetables. Oha is a seasonal vegetable, this is not very good news because, it means that, this delicious delicacy cannot be enjoyed all year round. 

I ate this soup for the first time at my brother- in- laws place, I have spoken about him before on this blog, he is from the east and he performs wonders in the kitchen. He explained that, oha leaves are very tender and quite easy to shred and shredding the oha leaves with our hands as opposed to using a knife, prevents the leaves from turning black. I have never used a knife since then. If you decide to use a knife, please let me know how the color turns out but for now, let’s cook! 

Ingredients

1) 1 bunch oha leaves 
2) Oziza leaves a handful 
3) Cocoyam 5medium size pieces 
4) Palm oil 3 table spoons 
5) Assorted meat(beef, shaki(tripe) pkomo )1kg 
6) Stockfish 200g 
7) Dry fish 200g 
8) Blended dry chillies ( as desired) 
9) Blended crayfish 100g 
10) Ogiri (okpehe) 10g 
11) Onions 1 medium sized bulb 
12) Seasoning 8g 
13) Salt 2g 

Directions 
1) Prepare all the ingredients by washing them thoroughly 

2) Pick the Oha leaves and shred roughly into small pieces with your hands, set this aside 

3) Peel and wash the cocoyam, parboil until tender and pound into a smooth paste, alternatively, you can leave to cool for a bit, pop into a blender with the addition on half a cup of water, blend until smooth and set aside



Cooks tip: you also have the option of using achi as a thickener, if you have no interest for the cocoyam.

 
 4) In a clean pot, add in the meats, stock fish, sliced onions, all of the seasoning and salt, mix well and allow to simmer for 3 minutes or until the meats start releasing juices 

5) Now add in 3 cups of water, stir well and allow to simmer for another 6 minutes or until the meats are tender enough for you 

6) Once this is done, add in the dried fish



Cooks tip: I always add in my dried fish after tenderizing my meat, so that it does not scatter in the cooking process, I like to have nice bite size pieces of fish in my soup.

 7) Add in the pepper and blended crayfish and ogiri(locust beans) at this point and cook for another 5 minutes



 8) Now add in the cocoyam paste that you prepared earlier, add this in one spoonful at a time so as to control the consistency, I prefer my oha not overly thick.

9) Now add in the palm oil, cover the pot and allow to simmer until the cocoyam paste has dissolved, you can add more water if the soup is too thick, just be sure to get your desired consistency.

10) Add in the oha and oziza leaves, cover the pot now and allow the soup to simmer for another 3 minutes and your delicious Oha soup is ready to be served with any swallow of your choice!


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