How To Make Okazi Soup

Nigerian food is essential to Nigerian culture. It defines the Nigerian people. This is why wherever we find ourselves; we are ready to eat our food daily without being bored.

Ofe Achara with Akpuruakpu Egusi is the most traditional way to prepare Achara Soup. The akpuruakpu is moulded egusi. This is not just ordinary moulded egusi that scatters as you cook the soup. These disc-shaped moulds of egusi should be intact and solid by the time the soup is done such that the person enjoying the soup can bite into and chew them like meat.

Ingredients

▪ 300g egusi (melon) seeds

▪ 1kilo of cow meat

▪ 40g ósú

▪ 1 handful, sliced okazi leaves

▪ 1 cup, broken pieces of achara

▪ 2 cooking spoons red palm oil

▪ stockfish(head and ear)

▪ 1 dry catfish

▪ Bonga fish

▪ 3 small stock cubes

▪ Habanero pepper (atarodo)

▪ Yellow pepper (ose Nsukka)

▪ 1 handful crayfish

▪ Salt (to taste)

Before you cook Ofe Achara

1. Soak the stockfish and dry fish with cool or lukewarm water to soften. When soft, clean thoroughly and debone.
2. Put the meat in a pot, add the stockfish, dry pepper, seasoning cubes and salt.
3. Grind the egusi seeds and the ósú with a dry mill.
4. Grind the crayfish, also with a dry mill or spice grinder.
5. Peel the Achara by removing the coarse outer husk till you get to the tender part. Then break the tender part into 1 cm long pieces. Any part of the shoot that is not brittle (easily breakable), should be discarded. Rinse the pieces of Achara and set aside.
6. Pound the habanero pepper with a mortar or grind with a hand

Method

1. Cook the stockfish with the stock cubes (seasoning cubes) till soft and pour some of the stock into a bowl. Yes, this has been soaked earlier, but stockfish is quite tough and soaking alone does not get it as soft as we need it. The soaking is necessary so that it can be cleaned very well.
2. Pour most of the ground egusi (about 70%) into a clean dry bowl.
3. Season the egusi with dry pepper, salt and onion. It’s important to season the egusi very well so that the ‘mgbam’ will not taste bland when one bites into it.
4.  Mould the egusi dough into flat discs, as big as a coin, and set aside.
5. Boil some water and throw the moulded egusi into the pot of boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
6. Set the pot of stockfish on the stove. It should still contain some stock from cooking the stockfish. If not, add the water from boiling the egusi balls.
7. Add the deboned dry fish, habanero pepper, and the remaining crayfish and bring to a boil.
8. Once it boils, take off the fish and set aside.
9. Add the remaining ground egusi to the stock, stir and cook till you see some clear egusi oil come to the surface. This should take 15 to 20 minutes. Stir the soup often so it does not burn. Add the water you used in boiling the moulded egusi when necessary.
10. Once you are sure you see some clear oil at the top, add palm oil and cook for 5 minutes.
11. Add the boiled akpuruakpu egusi, achara, okazi and the fish we took out earlier.
12. Add salt to your taste, cover and once it boils again, it is done!