Ingredients
Ogbono
- 150 gogbono seeds, ground to a fine powder
- 100 mlred palm oil
Meat and fish
- 500 gbeef, cubed
- 200 gponmo, cow skin
- 300 gsmoked fish, flaked and boned
- 200 gstockfish, soaked
Broth
- 1.5 litresmeat stock
- 2stock cubes
- 2 tbspground crayfish
- 1onion, chopped
- 2scotch bonnets, blended
- salt
Greens
- 200 gugu, fluted pumpkin leaves, or spinach, shredded
To serve
- eba, fufu or pounded yam
Directions
- Boil the beef, ponmo and soaked stockfish with onion and stock cubes for about 45 minutes until tender, and keep the stock. Now the critical step: heat the palm oil in a dry pot on a low heat, then take it off the heat and stir the ogbono powder into the warm oil.
- Stir it into a smooth paste and keep the heat low. Do not let the oil get hot enough to fry the ogbono, which kills the drawing property entirely.
- Put the pot back on a low heat and add the hot stock gradually, a ladle at a time, stirring constantly.
- Add the liquid slowly and keep stirring. Poured in all at once, the paste seizes and you are left with lumps floating in thin broth.
- Add the cooked meats, the flaked smoked fish, the ground crayfish and the blended pepper.
- Simmer a further 10 minutes and taste for salt. Add the shredded ugu leaves and cook for 3 minutes only.
- Add the greens at the very end. The finished soup should be thick, dark green-brown and visibly stretchy. Serve hot with eba, fufu or pounded yam, and eat it with the fingers of the right hand.
Technique
- It thickens considerably overnight and is loosened with hot stock.
- Some cooks mix ogbono with a little egusi for a less slippery soup.
- Ogbono keeps best whole and frozen; ground powder goes rancid within months.
Substitutions
- Ground egusi, melon seed, which thickens but does not draw.
- Spinach or kale in place of ugu leaves.
Variations
- Ogbono and egusi mixed together.
- With okra added, which increases the draw further.
- Vegetarian, with mushrooms and no meat or fish.
History
A thick soup made from ground ogbono seeds, from the African bush mango tree, which release a distinctive mucilaginous, slightly stretchy texture when cooked, developed across several ethnic groups in southern Nigeria as one of a family of textured, thickened soups built around a specific local seed or vegetable rather than flour or cornstarch as a thickener. Its notably stretchy, somewhat viscous texture, similar in effect though produced by an entirely different ingredient to okra-thickened soups found elsewhere in West Africa, is considered a defining and desirable feature rather than an unusual one within the dish’s home regions. Ogbono soup is traditionally served alongside a starchy swallow food such as pounded yam, fufu or eba, used to scoop up the thick soup by hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ogbono soup?
Ogbono soup is a soup & stew from Nigeria: drawy wild-mango-seed soup with slippery texture, eaten with eba. A thick soup made from ground ogbono seeds, from the African bush mango tree, which release a distinctive mucilaginous, slightly stretchy texture when cooked, developed across several ethnic groups in southern Nigeria as one of a family of textured, thickened soups built around a specific local seed or vegetable rather than flour or cornstarch as a thickener. Its notably stretchy, somewhat viscous texture, similar in effect though produced by an entirely different ingredient to okra-thickened soups found elsewhere in West Africa, is considered a defining and desirable feature rather than an unusual one within the dish’s home regions. Ogbono soup is traditionally served alongside a starchy swallow food such as pounded yam, fufu or eba, used to scoop up the thick soup by hand.
How long does Ogbono soup take to make?
Ogbono soup takes 25 min of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Ogbono soup?
Yes, within limits. Ground egusi, melon seed, which thickens but does not draw. Spinach or kale in place of ugu leaves.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ogbono soup?
Stir it into a smooth paste and keep the heat low. Do not let the oil get hot enough to fry the ogbono, which kills the drawing property entirely.
