PREPARING A MUCILAGINOUS OGBONO SOUP 🍲

Hey lovelies ❤️
It's your favorite girl @debbie-ese 😍
Welcome to my blog 🤗

There are a number of draw soups in Nigeria which includes okro/okra soup, ewedu/jute soup but ogbono is the top of the list, not only because it is richly packed but it's rich flavor and mouth-watering taste. It is prepared with varieties of ingredients with ogbono seeds the major one, then palm oil, local spices/seasonings, dry cow skin, meats and fish.

Ogbono soup is categorized as draw soup because it draws, literally. It has a mucilaginous nature that makes it slippery. If you have not cooked the soup before and you are asked to prepare a soup with the seeds you may doubt at first that the soup will give a slippery texture afterwards. The seeds doesn't give a sign that it will be mucilaginous unlike okro and jute that shows these characteristics the moment they are being prepared. Well, this may be because the ogbono seeds are in dry form.

Ogbono soup can be enjoyed with most Nigerian swallow such as fufu, amala, pounded yam, garri, etc. In Nigeria, we eat our soups with any of these foods listed above except on some rare occasions where soups can be used to eat yam, potatoes, rice, beans, etc. There are about three different ways of cooking this soup, so it is up to you to choose the style that suits you and you may also try out different styles at different times. For instance, I cook using the three styles depending on how I feel at the moment.

Ingredients: Ogbono seeds, palm oil, meat, stock fish, scotch bonnet, seasonings, ugu leaves (spinach), onions, salt to taste.

Some of these ingredients such as the type of meat or fish may vary depending on your choice. There are some people who prefer cow legs, cowskins (ponmo), dried fish, stockfish, chicken, turkey, etc. However, some of them such as ogbono seeds, palm oil are constant.

How to prepare

• First off, wash your meat thoroughly and cook with seasonings, onions, salt until it is soft enough

• While the meat is being cooked, wash your spinach, cut it into small sizes and set aside

• Wash and blend your scotch bonnet roughly with a blender or use a mini mortar and pestle

• I grinded my ogbono seeds in the market so I'd have to skip the process of grinding it with a mortal or food processor

• In a plate mix the grounded ogbono seeds with palm oil. Be sure that it is thoroughly mixed together. Then set aside

• Check that the meat is soften enough, then remove them into a plate and set aside as well

• Inside the water that you used in boiling the meat put your grounded scotch bonnet. Allow to cook for about two to three minutes

• Then add the ogbono and palm oil mixture into the pot. It will begin to thicken after some minutes. Stir and allow to cook for about five to six minutes

• Afterwards, add the meat stock to reduce the thickness if it's too thick but be careful that it won't be too watery

• Add your meat into the pot
  

• Check if the taste is good enough, if not add more salt or seasonings and stir well

• Add the chopped spinach and allow to simmer for about two minutes on low heat

• Your pot of ogbono is ready to be served

Thank you for your time lovelies.

The post is originally written by me 💕@debbie-ese💕

Your comments, criticism and votes are highly appreciated.