Quick Egg Stew
Abuja, Nigeria · View all recipes
Overview
Egg stew is tomatoes, onions and eggs cooked down together with pepper, and it is made across West Africa as a fast breakfast or light meal. This version carries two additions that place it more precisely: kobi and sardines. Kobi is salted, dried tilapia, a Ghanaian staple that is fried at the start so its salt and savour go into the oil before anything else joins it. It is one of the preserved fish that West African cooking relies on, alongside stockfish, smoked mackerel and dried prawn, and it gives a depth that fresh fish does not. Tinned sardines going in at the end is a common and thoroughly modern addition. The source names no country, and the kobi points to Ghana without settling it, so none is attributed here. What the dish is depends on how the eggs are treated: added and left mostly alone they set in curds through the tomato base; stirred continuously they disperse and the stew turns uniform. Both are made. It is eaten with bread, yam or plantain, and it is genuinely quick, which is much of the point of it.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Add the oil to a skillet and let it heat.
- 2
Add the kobi and let it sizzle.
- 3
Add freshly cut habanero, then the tomatoes and onions, and let them cook down.
- 4
Add the seasoning and let it cook.
- 5
Add the eggs and cook until set to your liking.
- 6
Add the sardines last and serve.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Deborah Olayiwola- Fry the kobi first and let it sizzle properly. It is salted dried fish and its job is to season the oil before anything else goes in.
- Taste before adding any salt. Between the kobi, the sardines and two seasoning cubes there is a great deal already.
- Leave the eggs mostly alone for curds through the stew, or stir continuously for a uniform mixture. Both are made and it is a matter of preference.
- Add the sardines at the very end and fold gently, or they break up entirely.
- Cook the tomatoes down properly before the eggs go in. An underdone tomato base tastes raw and sharp.
- Kobi is sold at Ghanaian and West African grocers. Any salted dried fish substitutes, though it should be soaked briefly if very salty.
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