Ofe akwu is palm nut stew peculiar to the South-Eastern (Igbo tribe). This dish share similarities with the banga soup of the Niger Deltans though they both have their differences. Their ingredients (majorly the spices) slightly differ. While Ofe akwu is served as a sauce for boiled rice or yam/plantain and a lot more, Banga soup is enjoyed with starch, pounded yam and any other swallow. This rich and special dish is very easy to prepare as long as you get the basic requirements right. To achieve a very tasty result, your palm fruit extract must not be watery, and your meats must be very well seasoned as the stock will be incorporated into the stew. Ogiri Okpei gives this stew an appetizing and scintillating aroma that can arouse your taste bud miles away from the kitchen. Dawadawa or Iru may be substituted with ogili okpei should you want to experiment further. Since you are such a great foodie, we wouldn’t waste any more time gisting. Let’s quickly get on with it at TigerKitchen.
Ingredients
21/2 kg palm fruits
One medium dried fish
One stock fish
Half a cup of ground dried crayfish
2kg assorted beef
One cup of blended pepper (yellow/red)
Tiger Ehuru Powder
Tiger Chilli Pepper Powder
Larsor Beef Seasoning
Vegeta Onion
Ogiri Okpei
Tiger Basil Leaves
Pumpkin leaves (Ugu)
Preparation
Wash and boil Palm fruit/Banga till it become soft and then pound inside mortar, and add water to easily extract the juice then set aside.
Boil your meats on medium to high heat first, starting with tougher ones like Cow leg, Shaki, tough Ponmo. Season with Vegeta Onion, Larsor Beef Seasoning, 1 tablespoon ground crayfish, and Salt. When all the meats are tender, add the stock fish and boil all till soft.
Blend/Grind your Scotch Bonnet and crayfish set aside. Roast your Ogiri okpei a bit on fire to enhance the aroma, pound or dissolve with water and set aside. Wash and cut your Ugu and set aside.
Pour the extracted juice and boil until it thickens. Afterwards, add ground crayfish, Ogili okpei, Tiger Chilli Pepper Powder, Tiger Ehuru Powder, and salt, and let it cook for few minutes before adding your stock and your meat.
By now the scintillating taste and aroma of this stew is all over the house especially if you prepared it with Goat Meat… 😋 yummy
Now add the Tiger Basil leaves and Ugu (Pumpkin leaves), steam for a minute, and there you have your delicious Ofe akwu. Enjoy this delicacy with white rice, yam, dodo and beans.
This particular dish will go down well as a Sunday meal plan. This recipe is a must try at home. Your feedback is the reason we are here.
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