How to make Nigerian Okro Soup (no palm oil) | Recipe

Growing up in a small town in Nigeria, Osas loved the okro soup that her grandmother used to make when she was little. Many years later, Osas now has her own two kids, ages 3 and 1, and is excited to share her grandmother’s okro soup with them—with a little bit of a twist. This recipe doesn't call for any palm oil.

Produced by Media21 Productions for CBC's Creator Network in Edmonton.

CREDITS:

Osas EwekaSmith, Director/Producer.

Media21 Productions

Fahad Suleiman, Video Editor

Leruo Leagajang, Videographer

Mubarak Suleiman, Videographer/Photographer

RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 large mackerel fish

3 cups okro

3 cups water

2 cups spinach

4 large tomatoes (use 1 cup after the tomatoes are cooked and reduced)

¼ cup onions, sliced

¼ cup canola oil

1 tablespoon ground crayfish

1 habanero pepper, chopped fine

1 Maggi cube or 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Fish:

Gut and clean out the fish.

Slice the fish into five pieces

Put the sliced pieces in a bowl and set them aside.

The tomato sauce (if making it from fresh tomatoes):

Blend the tomatoes until smooth.

In a pot, pour in the tomatoes and cook.

Boil the tomato until water is almost completely dried from it, about 35-40 minutes.

Set the reduced tomato aside.

If using canned tomato sauce, follow steps 2 to 4.

Vegetables:

Chop up the following finely and set each one aside

Okro

Spinach

Onions

Once the tomato is cooked, follow these steps.

Heat up ¼ cup canola oil in a pot.

Add ¼ cup diced onions and stir until they are brown and caramelized.

Add fish and cook for 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup of water. Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes.

Uncover pot and add chopped habanero pepper, 1 Maggi cube, and 1 tbsp ground crayfish. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

Add 3 cups of chopped okro, 2 cups of chopped spinach, 1 cup of tomato sauce, salt, and the remaining 2 cups of water. Stir well.

Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 20 minutes. You can tell if it’s ready when the fish is well cooked and almost falling apart. The fish is what you want to focus on cooking the most since most of the other ingredients are vegetables and you don’t need to overcook them. When finished, there should still be at least 2 cups of liquid left and your finished product is soupy.

Serve in a bowl and enjoy.