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    Home » Nigerian soup recipes » Ofe Akwu

    Published: Aug 20, 2015 · Modified: Jul 30, 2019 by Ajoke

    Ofe Akwu

    I thought I love Banga soup (Niger-Delta style) until I tried Ofe Akwu (Ibo style) and God I have been hooked since then. Ofe Akwu is versatile, affordable and easy to cook.

    ofe-akwu-ibo-banga-soup

    I’m yet to try abak atama soup, basically because of the Adrian fruit (Uyayak). I have a thing for that fruit and I always say to myself It will never go into my soups but hey! never say never. I might be trying it soon with my nose blocked (whatever that means). Ofe Akwu went down well in my household and everyone is asking for more.

    When you try this dish, try not to miss out the important element to the dish and that is Ogiri. Ogiri does not have a pleasant smell but it does wonders in your dish. Also don’t add salt to the soup till you have added the ogiri. In fact, you might not need salt in this dish again if your assorted meat is well seasoned. You can eat it with almost everything. In fact, the excess oil from the dish was added to the beans I made earlier this week and yes I could still smell my ogiri in the beans. Enjoy this soup with any protein of choice from chicken to beef and did I also mention that you don’t need to start pounding some palm kernels. You can just buy the tinned concentrated one and it is pretty affordable too.

    Ingredients

    400g palm nut concentrate

    500g-1kg assorted meat

    Few pieces of goat meat

    Smoked fish

    Ground crayfish

    Dried catfish strips

    1 wrap Ogiri okpei

    Seasoning

    Salt

    2-3 scotch bonnet chillies (blended/pounded)

    1-2 handfuls of uwgu leaves (chopped)

    Small bunch of scent leaves (substitute with dried/fresh basil)

    how-to-cook-ofe-akwu

    How to cook ofe akwu

    Season assorted beef and dried fish with salt, onions(optional), seasoning cubes, add water and bring to boil till tender. (Separate meat from stock and reserve stock)

    Place your pan on medium heat, add palm nut fruit and dilute with warm water double of the amount of palm fruit used. I used 400g of palm nut so I added 800g of water to the pan. You can add any tough beef at this point, this will help soften it more and the flavour infused as well (I added cow foot to mine at this stage)

    Stir till well combined and bring to boil for 10 minutes, add ogiri, crayfish and blended pepper to the sauce and cook till the oil starts to show on the surface of the sauce. (the total time for this should be about 20 minutes)

    image of how to cook ofe akwu

    If you notice the soup slightly getting thicker, dilute with stock or water. If you will be adding stock, be mindful of the salt content so you should always check for salt before adding stock.  Ogiri is an important element for this dish and like my Banga soup here, I didn’t need to add salt to the soup as the Ogiri complemented the soup so well.

    Add the remaining beef and smoked fish to the sauce and stir to combine. Check for salt and seasoning then reduce the heat and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Check intermittently; add water/stock accordingly to sauce if it becomes too thick.

    Add scent leaves and uwgu leaves to the palm nut soup and stir till well combined. Cook for another 5 minutes and take it off the heat.

    pot of soup

    Ofe Akwu is usually served with boiled white rice but I couldn't resist having mine with pounded yam. So yummy. Enjoy.xx

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    Don't forget to take a picture and tag my active kitchen on Instagram if you make any recipe from the blog.  I also love reading from you all, leave a comment or send me an email. If you are yet to subscribe to the blog, kindly do so and you won't miss any new post from us again. Until next time, be true to yourself

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Joeboy says

      June 19, 2020 at 2:15 pm

      Looking for a research project information on Native food like this. Thanks

      Reply
    2. kenny says

      October 29, 2016 at 5:53 pm

      Wow,this really nice... Will try this out

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        October 29, 2016 at 9:33 pm

        Thank you Kenny, do leave a feedback when you try it

        Reply
    3. Bella says

      July 09, 2016 at 7:21 am

      Kindly have a YouTube channel the ones there are not that good and real like this . Just saying

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        July 09, 2016 at 10:26 am

        Hahahaha... ok o, I will look into it. Thanks a lot for stopping by

        Reply
    4. Mrs Oluwasere says

      May 12, 2016 at 9:15 pm

      Please can I cook it without the ogiri, there is no ogiri where I reside.
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        May 12, 2016 at 9:38 pm

        Yes you can but the Ibos' would tell you otherwise. lol... I'm sure it would still turn out nice. do keep us posted on how you get along. make sure you use a good brand of palmnut concentrate too. Thanks

        Reply
    5. Happie says

      November 06, 2015 at 12:51 pm

      Woah.! So I can seriously make soup from palm nuts without pounding the fruits?!
      Ajoke, you are like the World's Best Cook. I learn something new each time I stop by. I just love your sharp sharp way of doing things, last time I checked here.. I learnt how to wash beans by just blending instead of the primitive ways that I am used to. Thanks a million, Ma'am !!!

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        November 07, 2015 at 1:16 am

        Happie, you know how to make a girl happy just like your name and you are very funny too. Thanks for stopping by

        Reply
    6. Jumsey says

      November 04, 2015 at 3:03 pm

      My dear,hmmmm I jst love ur styles of cooking

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        November 04, 2015 at 10:08 pm

        Thank you Jumsey

        Reply
    7. Toyin Abiodun-Salau says

      October 05, 2015 at 12:34 pm

      Please can I use the Yoruba ogiri? I know that the ones being sold by IBO's is slightly different from the yorubas

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        October 05, 2015 at 6:50 pm

        Hi Toyin, I don't see why not, I use yoruba ogiri when I'm not able to source ogiri okpei.

        Reply
    8. Deeone says

      September 22, 2015 at 12:33 am

      I love how you layout your food and talk us through it. It feels like I am right there in your kitchen. The pictures speak volumes too! Just to say that 'Banga' is URHobo. I am not sure that the Ibos/Igbos call theirs Banga. I think its called Ofe Akwu, or so. All the same I will be perusing this site frequently. Good Job!

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        September 22, 2015 at 10:09 am

        Thanks Deeone for stopping by

        Reply
    9. Abbey says

      August 25, 2015 at 10:04 pm

      Yum! I'll be trying this out soon,please where can I get the concentrated palm nut from in Lagos?

      Reply
    10. Jasmine says

      August 25, 2015 at 10:03 pm

      wow you nailed it.

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        November 04, 2015 at 10:10 pm

        thanks

        Reply

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    Hello, my name is Ajoke, and welcome to my food world,  I love to cook in my lively little kitchen. Join me in the adventure of cooking what we all call warm, hearty, and quick meals...

    More about me →

    Hello, my name is Ajoke, and welcome to my food world,  I love to cook in my lively little kitchen. Join me in the adventure of cooking what we all call warm, hearty, and quick meals...

    More about me →

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