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Ofe Ugba

Ofe Ugba, is a native to Imo and Abia states of Nigeria. This recipe is simply Okra Soup cooked with shredded oil beans. You can call it Ofe Ukpaka or Shredded Oil Bean Soup.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine African, Nigerian
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

Ingredients:

  • 20 okra fingers
  • 1 cup of ugba (milk cup is ok)
  • 2 pieces of dry fish (dry catfish or Mangala fish)
  • 2 pieces stockfish (dry codfish)
  • 1 smoked mackerel (smoked Titus fish)
  • 2 cooking spoons palm oil
  • Habanero pepper
  • 1 handful crayfish
  • 1 piece of ogiri okpei
  • 1 onion
  • Garden egg leaves
  • Salt

Instructions
 

Before Cooking

  • 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.
  • Soak the stockfish for a few minutes and clean with a food brush.
  • Soak the dry fish in cool or lukewarm water till soft. Clean, debone and break into pieces.
  • Break the smoked fish into small pieces, debone and rinse.
  • Grind the crayfish and the ogiri okpei with a dry mill.
  • 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.
  • Slice the onion into small pieces.
  • Cut up the pepper into small pieces. You can grind it if you wish.
  • Cut the garden egg leaves into small pieces.

Directions

  • 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.
  • When the stockfish is soft, use the cooking spoon to break it into small pieces.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Take the pot off the stove and transfer to another container immediately so that the green vegetables stay green.

Notes

Notes:
  • Be careful with salting your ugba soup because there might be salt already added to the ugba and the fermentation adds an umami flavor to food which reduces the need for salt.
  • Ofe Ugba is a thick soup, not watery at all and it tastes even better the next day.
Keyword Soup
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