Ofe Ugba
Overview
Ofe ugba is okra soup cooked with ugba, shredded, fermented African oil bean seed, and it belongs to Imo and Abia states in southeastern Nigeria, particularly to the people of Owerri and Mbaise. Ugba, also called ukpaka depending on where in Igboland you are, is made by boiling, slicing and fermenting the seed of the African oil bean tree. The fermentation is the entire point. Properly done, the shreds become tacky and almost cling together, and they carry a deep, pungent, savoury flavour that has no real substitute. It is eaten on its own as a salad with ugba and abacha, and used as an ingredient here. The distinction that matters, and the one the source is emphatic about, is that you cannot simply add ugba to okra soup and call it ofe ugba. The ugba has to be properly fermented first, and if it is not, the soup will taste like ordinary okra soup with something bland stirred through it. If it has not fermented enough, it is wrapped tightly and left longer. Around that sit the standard components, palm oil, assorted meat, dried fish, crayfish, pepper, and the okra itself for body. It is served with any of the swallows, and it is regional enough that many Nigerians have never eaten it.
AFN Heritage Note
Ofe ugba is documented as a speciality of the Owerri and Mbaise people of Imo State, southeastern Nigeria. Its defining ingredient, ugba or ukpaka, is the seed of the African oil bean tree, boiled, sliced and fermented, a preparation tradition specific to Igbo cooking.
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
Rinse all the vegetables and fish thoroughly. In Nigerian markets, dry fish and stockfish are displayed in the open hence contain dust and sometimes fine sand. So wash these very well and rinse in plenty of water.
- 2
Soak the stockfish for a few minutes and clean with a food brush.
- 3
Soak the dry fish in cool or lukewarm water till soft. Clean, debone and break into pieces.
- 4
Break the smoked fish into small pieces, debone and rinse.
- 5
Grind the crayfish and the ogiri okpei with a dry mill.
- 6
Cut the okra fingers into pieces. For the best Ofe Ugba, please do not blend the okra. You can grate it but hand cut is the best.
- 7
Slice the onion into small pieces.
- 8
Cut up the pepper into small pieces. You can grind it if you wish.
- 9
Cut the garden egg leaves into small pieces.
- 10
Place the stockfish in a pot, add some water and start cooking. Add water in small amounts and top up when necessary because you want as little water as possible in the pot when done. I use a pressure pot to cook stockfish, softens in no time.
- 11
When the stockfish is soft, use the cooking spoon to break it into small pieces.
- 12
Add the dry fish, ugba, crayfish and ogiri okpei, pepper, onions, smoked fish, salt and palm oil. Cover the pot and continue cooking on high heat. Stir often so it does not burn.
- 13
After about 5 minutes, add the leafy vegetable and okra, stir and add salt if necessary. You want an as a small quantity of water as possible in the soup before adding the vegetable. I used leafy spinach, watch the video below to see how I pre-prepared the leafy spinach before adding it to the soup.
- 14
Take the pot off the stove and transfer to another container immediately so that the green vegetables stay green.
Africook’s Notes
- Check the ugba is properly fermented before you start. It should be tacky and almost sticking together, with a strong smell, not bland, and not rotten.
- If it is under-fermented, wrap it tightly and leave it longer. Adding it early is the most common way this soup ends up tasting like plain okra soup.
- Add the okra late and briefly. Overcooked okra loses its draw and turns slimy in the wrong way.
- Grate rather than slice some of the okra if you want more body, the two textures behave differently.
- Taste before adding salt. Ugba and crayfish both bring their own saltiness.
Reviews
5 reviews
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My husband loved this so much, spent half my Saturday driving around Inglewood just to source proper smoked Titus fish and dry catfish. Used a standard 250ml cup for the ugba. The final dish was bloody lekker and so authentic, though grinding the ogiri in my dry mill was a bit sticky.
Finding real ugba here in Chicago is not easy at all but I managed to get a frozen pack at the market in Rogers Park. I couldnt get fresh garden egg leaves so I substituted with spinach, but that ogiri okpei aroma brought me straight back to Enugu. E sweet well well o.
Truly, if you dont scrub that stockfish and dry mangala fish thoroughly with warm water to remove all the market sand, it will ruin the whole pot. Followed this step by step and the rich palm oil flavor combined with the ugba was just perfect. No be small thing o.
Tried cooking it yesterday chale but my soup became far too slimy and thick. 20 fingers of okra was too much for two spoons of palm oil, and the ogiri flavor dominated everything paa. I think I will cut the ogiri in half next time.
My Igbo roommate back in university used to make this for us. That ogiri okpei smell is so strong paa, reminds me of fermented dawadawa but deeper. Do you slice your garden egg leaves very thin or leave them broad oo?