Ingredients
Rice
- 600 gofada rice, unpolished local rice
- water
- salt
Meat
- 500 gbeef, cut in cubes
- 300 gshaki, tripe
- 200 gponmo, cow skin
- 300 gassorted offal
- 1onion
- 2stock cubes
Ayamase base
- 15green bell peppers
- 10green scotch bonnets
- 3onions
- 2 tbspiru, fermented locust beans
Oil
- 500 mlred palm oil
Also
- 6hard-boiled eggs
- salt
- 1stock cube
To serve
- banana leaves, to line the plate
Directions
- Pick through the rice carefully for stones, which unpolished local rice usually contains. Wash it in several changes of water until the water runs much clearer. Parboil it for 10 minutes, drain, rinse, then cook it in fresh water until tender.
- Keep a lid beside the pan to smother it if it catches, and never put water near it. Heat the palm oil on a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until the red colour has gone and the smoking has stopped.
- Boil the blended pepper mixture in a dry pot for 20 to 30 minutes until most of the water has gone. Wet pepper paste added to hot oil spits violently and gives a watery stew.
- Boil the meat, tripe, ponmo and offal with onion and stock cubes for about an hour until tender, then keep the stock.
- Turn the heat down under the bleached oil and add the sliced onions and the iru. Add the reduced pepper paste and fry for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often.
- Fry it until the oil rises and separates and floats clear on the surface, which is the sign the stew is done. Add the cooked meats, some of their stock, salt and stock cube, and simmer 15 minutes. Add the whole boiled eggs at the end and let them sit in the stew.
- Serve the rice on a banana leaf with the stew spooned beside it. It is Yoruba food from Ogun State, served at parties and in ofada restaurants, and it is genuinely very hot.
Technique
- Ayamase is often called designer stew, and ofada stew is used for the same thing.
- The stew keeps a week in the fridge and improves.
- Ofada rice is nutritionally better than polished rice, which is part of its revival.
Substitutions
- Brown or unpolished short-grain rice in place of ofada.
- Any assorted meats, or beef alone.
Variations
- Made with red peppers, giving the orange version.
- Without offal, using beef and chicken only.
- With less bleaching of the oil, which is milder.
History
A specific variety of unpolished, locally grown rice, named after the town of Ofada in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria, where it has been cultivated for generations, distinguished from more common imported polished rice varieties by its distinctive brownish colour, shorter grain and more pronounced, slightly nutty flavour and aroma. It is most classically served with ayamase, a spicy pepper sauce made with a specific green bell pepper called tatashe or a similar variety, cooked in a generous quantity of bleached palm oil, together forming a specific, well-established Nigerian dish combination rather than ofada rice being eaten interchangeably with any generic sauce. Ofada rice has experienced renewed popularity and pride within Nigeria in recent decades as part of a broader movement favoring locally grown rice varieties over imported alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ofada rice?
Ofada rice is a main from Nigeria: local unpolished rice with spicy green-pepper ayamase stew. A specific variety of unpolished, locally grown rice, named after the town of Ofada in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria, where it has been cultivated for generations, distinguished from more common imported polished rice varieties by its distinctive brownish colour, shorter grain and more pronounced, slightly nutty flavour and aroma. It is most classically served with ayamase, a spicy pepper sauce made with a specific green bell pepper called tatashe or a similar variety, cooked in a generous quantity of bleached palm oil, together forming a specific, well-established Nigerian dish combination rather than ofada rice being eaten interchangeably with any generic sauce. Ofada rice has experienced renewed popularity and pride within Nigeria in recent decades as part of a broader movement favoring locally grown rice varieties over imported alternatives.
How long does Ofada rice take to make?
Ofada rice takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Ofada rice?
Yes, within limits. Brown or unpolished short-grain rice in place of ofada. Any assorted meats, or beef alone.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ofada rice?
Keep a lid beside the pan to smother it if it catches, and never put water near it. Heat the palm oil on a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until the red colour has gone and the smoking has stopped.
