Ogbono Soup
Ogbono soup is one of my go-to soups when I’m running out of time and I need to cook something yet appetising. Ogbono is another popular soup in Nigeria. This soup is delicious especially when loaded with stockfish and assorted meat
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 120 g ground ogbono African bush mango seed also called apon
- Few pieces of assorted meat
- Dried hake 2 medium steak (panla/oporoko)
- ⅓ Csp palm oil
- 1 tbsp Ground crayfish use more if desired
- Cayenne pepper use according to preference
- Fried or grilled Mackerel about 4 steaks
- Dried utazi leaves see note
- 2-3 cups of stock and water use half and half
Instructions
How to Boil Meat
- Boil stockfish with beef if you want or you can cook separately with small onions, bouillon cube and salt till tender. Separate the meat from the stock and drain the stock so its dirt free. Return the stock and meat back into the pan.
- On medium-high heat, place a pan containing the stock, assorted beef and panla, add palm, cayenne pepper and bring to boil for another 10 minutes till all is well combined.
- Stir the ground ogbono into the sauce bit by bit and stir briskly to avoid the ogbono clumping up. The ogbono starts to thicken and draws as you stir.
- Check for salt and seasoning. I didn’t use any in making the soup other than the one I used in boiling the stockfish and meat
- Add crayfish and stir to combine, add fried fish and stir together. (Add more water to soup if need be)
- Sprinkle utazi leave on soup sparingly and stir to combine. (utazi is bitter so use carefully) Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Take off the heat and serve with a swallow of choice.
Notes
Tips for making the best ogbono soup
- If you are using assorted beef like liver and lungs, parboil for about 5-8 minutes. Decant the water, rinse the assorted meat to get rid of scum and then return it to the pan before bringing to boil with seasoning, onion and salt till tender
- Boil stockfish with beef if you want or you can cook separately with small onions, seasoning and salt till tender.
- Use freshly ground ogbono powder, it only takes a few minutes to blend. Store leftover ogbono powder in the freezer.
- I always drain my stock as I like it dirt free. It makes the soup better and more appealing to the eyes