🇳🇬 Nigeria · South-east Nigeria (Igbo)
Ofe onugbu (bitterleaf soup)Nigerian bitterleaf soup
An Igbo soup of washed bitterleaf (Vernonia amygdalina) in a base thickened with cocoyam (or achi or ofor), with palm oil, assorted meat, stockfish and crayfish, eaten with a swallow.
Origin and history
Ofe onugbu, bitterleaf soup, belongs to the Igbo of south-eastern Nigeria, especially Enugu and Anambra, and is now eaten all over Nigeria and abroad. The bitterleaf plant (Vernonia amygdalina) grows widely in tropical Africa and has long been used both as a food and as a traditional medicine.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 50 min
Ingredients
- 800 g1.8 lb assorted beef (with some tripe or cow skin, optional), cut in pieces
- 1 large piece stockfish, soaked until soft, flaked
- 2 smoked dried fish, cleaned, in chunks
- 4 medium cocoyam (ede), boiled in the skin, peeled, pounded smooth
- 300 g10.5 oz bitterleaf (onugbu, Vernonia amygdalina), shredded; washed and squeezed until the bitterness is mild
- 120 ml1/2 cup red palm oil
- 3 tbsp ground crayfish
- 1 tsp ogiri (fermented seed paste), ground, or ground iru/locust beans
- 1 onion, chopped
- ground hot pepper (yellow or cayenne), to taste
- salt and seasoning cube, to taste
Method
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1. Wash the bitterleaf: squeeze it hard in several changes of water with a pinch of salt, tasting a leaf each time. Stop when it is pleasantly bitter, not harsh. Squeeze dry.
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2. Boil the cocoyam until a knife slides in easily, peel it and pound in a mortar until smooth with no lumps, or blend with a little warm water.
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3. Season the beef with onion, salt and a cube and cook covered for 40 minutes until tender. Add the stockfish and dried fish, then simmer another 15 minutes until the stock turns slightly milky.
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4. Stir in the crayfish, ogiri and pepper. Add the palm oil and let it dissolve for a couple of minutes.
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5. Drop the cocoyam paste in lumps, cover, and leave without stirring for 5 minutes. Then stir until dissolved; the soup should be thick and silky but still pourable. Add water if too thick.
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6. Add the bitterleaf and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper and serve hot.
Notes
- Ofe onugbu is the Igbo bitterleaf soup of Enugu, Anambra and the south-east. The cocoyam is what makes the Igbo base: it dissolves into the stock and thickens it. Ofe oha shares the method, with oha leaves instead.
- The usual swallow is akpu (cassava fufu), pounded yam or garri/eba. Yellow garri is a favourite.
- Fresh bitterleaf is rare abroad; frozen and dried (washed) leaves are sold in African markets. Dried leaves need soaking and rinsing. Without them, use chicory, endive or dandelion greens, or kale with a few radicchio leaves: the bitterness will be different and less earthy, so taste before adding more.
- Cocoyam can be replaced by taro, or by instant potato flour or yam flour stirred into hot water (use a few tablespoons): the soup comes out less nutty and slightly slicker. Achi or ofor are the traditional alternatives for thickening.
- Ogiri has no true substitute for the Igbo flavour; fermented locust beans (iru/dawadawa) or a little miso-type paste come closest. Smoked turkey or chicken can replace some beef.
Adapted from BusinessDay Nigeria, Bitter leaf soup (Ofe onugbu) and My Active Kitchen, Ofe onugbu.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.