Bitterleaf Soup Recipe
Bitterleaf soup is a delicious Nigerian dish that is made with bitterleaf, meat or fish, palm oil, onions, crayfish, and seasoning. To prepare it, boil the meat or fish until tender, then add palm oil and onions. After that, add bitterleaf and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Finally, add crayfish and seasoning, and let the soup cook for another 5 minutes. This soup is usually served with pounded yam, fufu, or eba.
Ingredients
- Beef/ Chicken/lamb/turkey or your preferred protein cow tripe (shaki) will add more flavour
- Washed and squeezed bitterleaf quantity to cover for the pot of soup
- Stockfish
- Smoked fish
- Ogiri Igbo
- Periwinkle
- Ground crayfish
- Ponmo
- 3 cooking spoon of Palm Oil
- Red Onions optional
- Cocoyam well pounded
- Seasonings
- Salt to taste
- fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
Preparation before cooking the soup
- It's essential to wash bitter leaves to remove any bitterness thoroughly. If needed, clean and squeeze them multiple times. If the bitterness persists (common in store-bought bitter leaves), boil them for 15 minutes and then wash them with cold water.
- You can either add cocoyam while cooking the meat so it can cook together to save time or cook the cocoyam separately.
Cooking the Soup
- Before cooking, wash your preferred meat (protein) and season it to your taste. Let it simmer for 5 minutes, then add a little water, cover it, and cook until the meat is tender. If you are cooking with cow tripe(shaki), make sure that the tripes curl as a sign that they are done.
- Add ground crayfish, ground pepper, and salt. Allow it to cook for an additional seven minutes. Add the bitterleaf. Note: If the bitter leaves were parboiled to remove the bitterness, add all the ingredients at this stage, including the pounded cocoyam corms.
- Cover the pot and cook on high heat until all the cocoyam lumps dissolve. Add more water if the soup is too thick.
- Switch off the heat once satisfied that the cocoyam lumps have dissolved.
- The delicious Onubu (Bitterleaf) soup you have been waiting for is now ready.
Notes
You can serve Onubu soup with any swallow, but it's best with fufu. Some enjoy it alone. Click here to order.