Igbo Oha Soup

Ingredients

• 500g cocoyam, peeled and cut into chunks
• 500g assorted beef (shin and tripe), cut into pieces
• 150g dried stockfish, soaked and shredded
• 100g dried crayfish, ground
• 1/2 cup red palm oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp ground ogiri or substitute iru (fermented locust beans)
• 2 scotch bonnet peppers, blended
• 2 stock cubes
• 150g fresh oha leaves, torn by hand into small pieces
• 1 tbsp ground uziza seeds (optional)
• Salt, to taste

Before you cook

• Soak the dried stockfish in warm water until softened, then shred the flesh off the bones.
• Peel and cut the cocoyam into chunks.
• Tear the oha leaves by hand rather than cutting them with a knife, since a blade brings out bitterness.

Steps

1. Boil the cocoyam chunks in water for 20 minutes until completely soft.
2. Drain the cocoyam and pound or mash it into a smooth, stretchy paste while still hot.
3. Place the beef, stockfish, chopped onion and stock cubes in a pot and cover with water.
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 35 minutes until the beef is tender.
5. Stir the red palm oil into the simmering meat and broth.
6. Pinch off small pieces of the cocoyam paste and drop them into the simmering pot to dissolve, stirring until the broth thickens.
7. Stir in the ground crayfish, ogiri and blended scotch bonnet.
8. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup is smooth and well combined.
9. Add the ground uziza seeds if using.
10. Taste the broth and adjust the salt as needed.
11. Stir the torn oha leaves into the hot soup.
12. Simmer for just 2 minutes, since oha leaves wilt almost immediately and turn bitter if overcooked.
13. Remove the pot from the heat and serve hot with pounded yam or fufu.