Ofe Ugba is a soup from the native Imo and Abia states of Nigeria. Don’t think it’s rocket science to prepare Ofe Ugba, it is simply Okra Soup cooked with shredded oil beans. You can call it Ofe Ukpaka or Shredded Oil Bean Soup.

Ingredients

• 20 okra fingers
• 1 cup of Ugba (milk cup is ok)
• 2 pieces dry fish (dry catfish or mangalafish)
• 2 pieces stockfish (dry cod fish)
• 1 smoked mackerel (smoked Titus fish)
• 2 cooking spoons Famili Quality palm oil
• Habanero pepper (atarodo, oseoyibo, atarugu: to taste)
• 1 handful crayfish
• 1 piece of ogiriokpei (dawadawa, iru)
• 1 onion
• Garden egg leaves (alternative: spinach)
• Salt (to taste)

Cooking Directions

1. 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.
2. When the stockfish is soft, use the cooking spoon to break it into small pieces.
3. Add the dry fish, Ugba, crayfish and ogiriokpei, pepper, onions, smoked fish, salt and palm oil. Cover the pot and continue cooking on high heat. Stir often so it does not burn.
4. After about 5 minutes, add the leafy vegetable and okra, stir and add salt if necessary. You want as 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.
5. Take the pot off the stove and transfer to another container immediately so that the green vegetables stay green.

Serve Ofe Ugba with your favorite Nigerian swallow: Eba (Garri),Semolina, fufu, amala or pounded yam.