Ingredients
Head
- 1goat head, split, cleaned, with the brain reserved
- salt
- 2stock cubes
- 1onion
Sauce
- 200 mlpalm oil
- 2 tbspakanwu (potash), dissolved in 100 ml water and strained
- 2 tbspehu seeds, ground
- 4 tbspground crayfish
- 3scotch bonnets, ground
- 1 tspsalt
To finish
- 10utazi leaves, very finely shredded
- 1onion, sliced into rings
To serve
- palm wine or beer
Directions
- Ask the butcher to split the head and to singe and scrape the skin, and to keep the brain separately.
- Wash it repeatedly in hot water with salt, scrubbing every crevice, and pay particular attention to the ears and the nostrils.
- Boil the head with the onion, stock cubes and salt for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the meat comes away from the bone.
- Boil the brain separately for 10 minutes only, and set it aside.
- Keep the brain out of the main pot. Boiled with the head it disintegrates entirely, and it is wanted whole to be mashed into the sauce at the end.
- Pick every scrap of meat, skin and fat off the bones and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
- Now the emulsion, which is the whole technique. Pour the palm oil into a bowl and add the strained potash solution a little at a time, stirring hard in one direction.
- The oil will thicken and turn from red to a pale creamy yellow-orange as it emulsifies.
- Add the potash gradually and keep stirring. Too much at once and it will not come together; too much overall and it tastes soapy and metallic.
- Strain the potash before use, because it is sold as rough rock and the grit will not dissolve.
- Mash the boiled brain into the emulsified oil until smooth, which thickens it further.
- Stir in the ground ehu, crayfish, ground pepper and salt.
- Fold the meat through until every piece is coated in the pale sauce.
- Warm it through gently over a low heat, without letting it boil, which would split the emulsion.
- Serve it on a wooden plate, topped with rings of raw onion and a heavy scattering of shredded utazi.
- Shred the utazi as finely as you can. It is aggressively bitter and it is meant to be, cutting the fat, but in thick pieces it is unpleasant.
- It is a ceremonial Igbo delicacy, the head served to elders and guests of honour, and it is dressed in the same potash-emulsified palm oil as nkwobi.
Technique
- Akanwu, also called kaun or potash, is food-grade lye sold in Nigerian markets and is what makes the sauce pale and thick. Use it sparingly and strained.
- Ehu, also called ariwo or calabash nutmeg, is the defining aroma and there is no real substitute.
- It is eaten with the fingers, with palm wine, and it takes a long time to eat properly.
Substitutions
- Nkwobi, made with cow foot, uses the identical sauce and is far easier to source.
- Baking soda in place of akanwu, which emulsifies less well and is the usual compromise abroad.
Variations
- Nkwobi, with cow foot.
- With more utazi, for a sharper, more bitter plate.
- Isi ewu peppersoup, the same head served in a thin spiced broth instead.
History
A ceremonial Igbo delicacy in which the head is served to elders and guests of honour, dressed in the same potash-emulsified palm oil as nkwobi.
Frequently asked questions
What is Isi ewu?
Isi ewu is a main from Nigeria: goat head cut up in palm-oil sauce with utazi leaves and brain. A ceremonial Igbo delicacy in which the head is served to elders and guests of honour, dressed in the same potash-emulsified palm oil as nkwobi.
How long does Isi ewu take to make?
Isi ewu takes 1 hr of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Isi ewu?
Yes, within limits. Nkwobi, made with cow foot, uses the identical sauce and is far easier to source. Baking soda in place of akanwu, which emulsifies less well and is the usual compromise abroad.
What is the most important thing to get right in Isi ewu?
Now the emulsion, which is the whole technique. Pour the palm oil into a bowl and add the strained potash solution a little at a time, stirring hard in one direction.
