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One of the most common soups you would find in Nigeria especially in restaurants here is the okro soup or as some would call it okra.it is one of the easiest meals to make and fast too.
The major ingredient used is the okro which is greenish like a seed pod, it comes in different sizes and shapes and when you cut a part of it it gets slippery and slimy.it is very low in calories but has amazing nutrients like vitamin c and I learned that other countries use it too for amazing dishes like the ***sayur oyong ***in Indonesia I wonder how that taste like, I know it would be nothing less than delicious just like our own okro soup here in Nigeria.
Okro may not be my favorite soup or go-to meal but my husband loves it so much that I decided to make some for the family today.
There are so many ways people enjoy okra soup, it could be okro and tomatoes stew, seafood okro, or even oil-less okro which is said to be very healthy. Well, I love me some palm oil in my okro.
Some okro recipes people use vegetables and others don't, it all depends on everyone's preference and need, for me sometimes I like my okro crunchy so I slice, other times I may want it in puree form so I grate or blend. There are just so many ways of cooking okro that's one of the reasons I try it out once in a while because if it's diversity.
The recipe I chose to use this time was using palm oil, grating the okra so it's become a puree with some vegetables and it came out so yummy.
I spiced and boiled my proteins for a while, I love my beef soft and juicy, in my protein mix I had beef, shaky, liver, and cow legs too, then some dry catfish and smoked tilapia fish.
I like it when my soups come with a lot of obstacles, it makes it super exciting to look forward to eating 😉.
I added in the oil and pepper mix I had stored in my fridge and allowed it to cook for a few minutes then came the star of the meal, my okro which I added at this point, stirred, and tasted for salt, knorr, or pepper then I made the adjustment as needed .
After a while I added my sliced leave and allowed to boil for about 5 minutes and just like that my pot of yummylicious was ready.
My leave of choice was the pumpkin leaf, it is the most widely used vegetable in Nigeria. We call it “UGU”.it is always in season and readily available with unbelievable packed benefits. I just love having it in my meal.
I served it hot with my favorite yam flour commonly known as yam poundo. Its times like this that I am grateful for inventions like yam powder because I cannot imagine trying to pound yam after cooking or during the meal prep plus the hours and energy that would have been wasted on it. but now just with hot water and the yam flour, poundo yam is ready, it is not pounded but it is very close, nice and satisfying too.
It was a good meal, I finished before I could take a good picture of my plate like we say in Naija “AS E DEY HOT”
There is something am super curious about, is it a myth or fact that if you cover a pot of draw soup I.e of ogbono or else it would lose its elasticity. Please how true is that? Or that eating draw soup like okro or ogbono makes one slow and sluggish, is this true too?
I would love to know what your opinion is about these myths.
