Ingredients:
8 tablespoons ground Ogbono
Meat
Cow Ribs
Shaki (cow tripe)
Dry cat fish
3 cooking spoons red palm oil
2 handfuls crayfish
1 flat round ogiri okpei (Iru, Locust bean)
Habanero pepper (ose oyibo, atarodo)
1 onion
2 big seasoning cubes
Ugu (Nigerian pumpkin leaves): alternative spinach
Salt (to your taste)
Instructions:
Before you cook Ogbono Soup
Grind the Ogbono with a dry mill.
Soak the dry cat fish in some cool or lukewarm water. When soft, clean thoroughly and debone.
If using frozen spinach, cut it when it is not completely defrosted. It is easier that way. Then when completely defrosted, squeeze out the excess water.
If using Ugu, pick and cut into thin slices.
Grind the crayfish and ogiri okpei with a spice/coffee grinder.
Cut the onion into big chunks. I use chunks of onion when I want the taste of onion but not pieces of onion in what I am cooking.
Grind or pound the pepper.
Boil some water and set aside, you may need it.
Cooking Directions for Ogbono Soup
Cook the assorted meat with the seasoning cubes and onion. Remember to start cooking the toughest part of meat first (eg shaki), then add beef when almost done.
When the meat is done, turn off the heat, remove the chunks of onion then take out the meat from the beef stock.
Add the ground ogbono, spreading over the meat stock as you add. Then stir very well with a slotted spoon to ensure that they mix with the beef stock without lumps.
When happy, cover the pot, turn on the heat to very low and start cooking. Yes, you can cover the pot while cooking Ogbono Soup and the elasticity will not be affected. There are a few reasons why your Ogbono Soup does not have the perfect elasticity but covering the pot is not one of those reasons.
Stir the soup very often as you cook so it does not burn.
After 15 minutes, add the crayfish and ogiri okpei blend, habanero pepper, deboned dry cat fish, salt and palm oil in no particular order and continue cooking. Remember to stir often.
After 5 minutes (a total of 20 minutes of cooking), add the remaining ingredients: the boiled meats we took out earlier and leafy vegetables. You can add more salt if necessary. For vegetables, I add, stir, add, stir till I am happy with the ratio of the vegetables to the soup. This is how I add vegetables to almost all Nigerian soups.
Enjoy!