Anambra

Ofe onugbu

Bitter leaf soup thickened with cocoyam. Pleasantly bitter, deeply savoury, very Igbo.

90 minTime

35 gProtein each

mediumSpice

Make it your way

Grandma's wayBitter leaf, cocoyam, palm oil and stockfish.

The original

440kcalsame

35 gproteinsame

3 gfibresame

90minutessame

Classic ofe onugbu.

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table.

Bitter leaf2 cups washed bitter leaf (fresh or frozen)

Colocasia (taro root, eddoes)300 g cocoyam (taro), boiled, peeled and pounded

Red palm oil½ cup

Beef500 g, cubed

Dried salted fish1 stockfish or smoked fish, flaked

Ground dried crayfish (ground dried shrimp)2½ tbsp

Scotch bonnet chilli (habanero or scotch bonnet pepper, habanero chilli)1, blended

Iru (fermented locust beans)1 tbsp ogiri or iru

Stock cube (bouillon cube)1 cube

Water4 cups

Saltto taste

4 steps

1Boil the beef with stock cube, salt and a little water until tender. Add the fish and the rest of the water.
2Add the pounded cocoyam in small lumps and simmer, stirring, until dissolved and thick.
3Add palm oil, pepper, crayfish and ogiri and simmer 10 minutes.
4Stir in the washed bitter leaf and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust salt.

Serve it like this

Ladle into a bowl with meat and fish on top and serve with pounded yam, fufu or eba.

Bloom picks tonight's dinner for your diet and allergies, then cooks it with you step by step.