Okra Pepper Soup (Igbagba Ofofo)

It would be a sin if I don’t share this lovely hearty recipe with you all. How are you doing today? This recipe is classic, it is simple and above all yummy. The dish is called okra pepper soup, it is mostly eaten by the Uhrobo people in Nigeria.

Seriously, a part of me should move to side of the country mainly for their good food. Hats off, una sabi good food. Okra peppersoup is basically okra and pepper soup but who would have thought hey! Combining pepper soup spices with okra. We Yorubas seriously need to step up. Lol;

Well this is my take on Pepper soup okra or okro pepper soup as fondly called, I said my take because of some of the spices I used. I added rosemary and bay leaves to the soup. If you have not been using these herbs in cooking your pepper soup then you have been missing. Try it and thank me later. That’s all I can say.

This soup can be eaten with any type of swallow but traditionally, you eat it with starch and plantain or yellow garri and plantain. If you definitely like Okra, then this is another wonderful way to enjoy it and did I mention it’s healthy too, YES no oily ‘serenre’. This soup is ready under half an hour and I promise you it would be gone in 5 minutes. lol

Ingredients

500g okra, chopped in chunks

300g of mutton substitute with goat meat

Smoked catfish fillets

Few pieces of shrimps and any fresh fish, washed and seasoned with salt

2 pieces bay leaves

½ tsp rosemary, I used dried one

Handful of basil substitute with scent leaves (efinrin)

1 heaped tbsp pepper soup spice

Ground crayfish, I didn’t use it

2 handfuls of uwgu, chopped (I didn’t use any)

Seasoning

Salt

Cayenne pepper (I used crushed chilli flakes)

How to cook Okra pepper soup

Place a pan medium heat, add the washed beef, seasoning and salt (I didn't add onions but you can if you want) add enough water to cook just as you would for pepper soup. After about 10 minutes of boiling, add the pepper soup spice, bay leaves, catfish fillets, cayenne pepper and rosemary and cook till beef is about 95% tender.

Add the fish to the sauce at this point and leave to cook in  the sauce for about 5-8 minutes. Take it out of the sauce and set aside. The reasons for doing are;

Okra doesn't take long to cook and fish is delicate too. You don’t want to be stirring it too much when you add the okra at the last stage of cooking and you want the fish to absorb the flavour from the pepper soup

Add the chopped okra to the pepper soup, cook for a minute stirring in between. Add the shrimp to the soup and stir to combine. Check for salt and seasoning. (I didn't need to add any as my stock was well seasoned) Add your greens of choice at this stage if using, stir in the soup to combine and cook for another 5 minutes, add the fish and cook for another minute or two.

Take the okra pepper soup off the heat and serve with your steaming hot swallow of choice.

If you love this recipe, you might like egusi pepper soup or Ila alasepo

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Print Recipe

Okra Pepper Soup (Igbagba Ofofo)

The dish is called okra pepper soup, it is mostly eaten by the Uhrobo people in Nigeria. Seriously, a part of me should move to that side of the country mainly for their good food. Okra pepper soup is also called Igbagba Ofofo

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Nigerian

Keyword: Nigerian dishes, Okra dish

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 500 g okra chopped in chunks
• 300 g of mutton substitute with goat meat
• Smoked catfish fillets
• Few pieces of shrimps and any fresh fish washed and seasoned with salt
• 2 pieces bay leaves
• ½ tsp rosemary I used dried one
• Handful of basil substitute with scent leaves (efinrin)
• 1 heaped tbsp pepper soup spice
• Ground crayfish optional
• 2 handfuls of uwgu chopped (I didn’t use any)
• Seasoning I used Knorr
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper substitute with crushed chilli flakes

Instructions

• Place a pan on medium heat, add the washed beef, seasoning and salt (I didn’t add onions but you can if you want) add enough water to cook just as you would for pepper soup. After about 10 minutes of boiling, add the pepper soup spice, bay leaves, catfish fillets, cayenne pepper and rosemary and cook till beef is about 95% tender.
• Add the fish to the sauce at this point and leave to cook in sauce for about 5-8 minutes. Take it out of the sauce and set aside. The reasons for doing are;Okra doesn’t take long to cook and fish is delicate too, you don’t want to be stirring it too much when you add the okra at the last stage of cooking
  
• Add the chopped okra to the pepper soup, cook for a minute stirring in between. Add the shrimp to the soup and stir to combine. Check for salt and seasoning. (I didn’t need to add any as my stock was well seasoned)Cook for another 5 minutes, add the fish and cook for another minute. Take the okra pepper soup off the heat and serve with your steaming hot swallow of choice.