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Healthy & Vegetarian recipes

Veggie-Fishy Egg Stew

This was breakfast for my house guest a few days ago. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would work. I had it in my head for ages to make a veggie egg stew. My plan was to use a fragrant herb or vegetable, then one day on Facebook, I saw a picture where someone used Kale, and I thought hmmmn, now that would work too. Other options would be explored later. I wanted to throw something in the mix i.e. something in between the Kale and the eggs. You see, my mum made egg stew in two different ways. One way was to use leftover stew, the other was to sweat down several chopped veggies into a thick stewy sauce and then add the eggs. I have the recipe for her other method of egg stew HERE.

A few weeks ago, my starving self wandered over to my neighbour’s house. It was one of those 14 hour work days. I got to work before 7am to rush in to dial into a conference call and time zone constraints also meant I did not leave work until 9.30pm that day. I was beyond tired and hungry. One of those moments you are sure you drove home on auto pilot. Funmi graciously offered to feed me. She made this freshly prepared Semovita and Oiless Seafood Okro soup, with enough seafood, competing with the okro. Out of sheer hunger, I basically inhaled the food. I was almost done before it sunk in that there was something strange in that soup. Strange, but delicious. I asked her what it was and she said Monk fish. Never had Monk fish in my life before. I am not a fish lover in any way. I rarely venture outside my well-known ones like Tuna Steaks, Swordfish Steaks and Croaker. I grudgingly tolerate Tilapia, but the bones still scare me to death. Discovered Grouper on a holiday to The Algarve, in Portugal, love that too but somehow I can’t seem to find it here in the UK. Anyway, that sums up my fish dictionary, so when I heard her say Monk fish, I nodded my head in appreciation but my tired self didn’t register it.

I sauntered back home, straight into bed, and totally forgot about Monk fish until days after when Funmi told me she was going to our local Fishmongers. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to know where she gets her haul of seafood from, I followed her. It turned out to be a very fruitful trip, and not just because of fish and seafood. Funmi met a close family friend, a much older woman whom she hadn’t seen in almost six years. She had lost the woman’s phone number you see, so you can imagine the joy and surprise on both their faces, to suddenly bump into each other in the most unlikely of places, better still, she also lives in our neighbourhood. Imagine that. Don’t you just love serendipity stories. It even gets better. To be polite, Funmi introduced me to the woman, and said that’s my friend Dunni, she runs a blog. The woman took a good look at me and screamed. You are Dunni of Dooney’s Kitchen. OMG, I have been hoping and praying to meet you one day. OMG, you live in this neighbourhood, no way!!!! She then went on and on to say how much she loves the blog, same with all her friends. This is a woman whose has put children through University. It was so heart warming talking to her. We had such an uplifting and exciting conversation, like talking to a long-lost Big Aunty. She kept saying her best friend (who is also a huge fan of the blog) won’t believe this. She made several attempts to call her friend to tell her she was standing right in front of Dunni of Dooney’s Kitchen, unfortunately, the number just kept ringing. It was lovely, serendipitously meeting a Dooney’s Kitchen reader who lives in my neck of the woods. All because of a trip to the fishmongers. He works in mysterious ways. I will just leave the rest of the story there, lets just say meeting her is an asset to me. That day, it occurred to me that I finally have that thing I wanted to add to my Kale egg stew. It didn’t disappoint at all, after all my mum sometimes served meat and chicken with egg stew. She never dared with fish though, she knew I would not touch it with a barge pole. Here’s my version

You will need

Chopped pieces of Kale – replace with spinach if you live in Nigeria, Ugu may be too chewy, our use leftover Efo riro from dinner the night before
Chunks of Monkfish – replace with smoked Mackerel if you live in Nigeria
Leftover Stew
Chopped red onions
Chopped peppers – optional
Vegetable oil – i used sunflower oil
Eggs – number will depend on how many people you are feeding

How To

1. Using a little oil in a pan, heat it up and add the chopped onions. If you have chopped peppers, also add at this point and sauté lightly till they soften.

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2. Add the chopped Monkfish (or Tuna steak pieces, or Grouper, Swordfish or smoked Mackerel) to the pan and let it fry for a little about 2 minutes. Try not to stir, so you don’t break the fish apart

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3. Add the leftover stew and it fry gently on low heat. While the stew is frying with the fish, blanch the chopped Kale. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you need to pre-blanch the kale because, it would not have cooked sufficiently by the time the eggs have cooked through, so you start the cooking process by blanching the kale, to “pre-cook it”, if that makes sense. If you are using spinach though, still blanch it, to get rid of the raw vegetable taste. Of course, if you are using Leftover Efo riro, just add it to the veggies at this stage

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4. Now the stew has fried, add the Kale and stir gently, careful not to break the fish apart.

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5. Break the eggs into a bowl, whisk gently and pour into the pan. At this point, leave the eggs undisturbed. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Don’t attempt to scramble it at all, until it cooks and is only slightly runny on top. Remember the monk fish, you want to keep as much of the whole chunks of it as possible. It brings some interesting texture to this dish.

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6. Once you get to that almost cooked point with the eggs, then with a wooden spoon, you gently scramble. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: You are also gently breaking the chunks of the fish apart in the process, but you know what, while the eggs were cooking undisturbed, you have let the smokey fishy flavour of the monk fish permeate. Very important this happens. You will even begin to tell by the aroma the pan gives off. 

Once you start to scramble, mid way through, take the pan off the cooker and let the residual heat cook what is left of the eggs. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: this is to prevent the egg stew from getting dry. You only need enough heat to cook the eggs halfway and then you quickly take it off the heat. Learnt this tip from watching British and French scrambled eggs on TV. We do tend to over cook our eggs in Nigerian cuisine, so picking a leaf out-of-the-way the Brits and French cook theirs is a handy tip, even though I think the Brits and French under cook theirs, to a runny yucky state, but I found a way to get a happy medium. 

………….and that’s your Kale and Monkfish Egg Stew. See the fish peeking out?

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What is gorgeous about this, is the multi texture component it has, plus the different facets of flavour. The veggie crunch of the Kale, the slightly chewy smokiness of the Monk Fish, the soft squidgyness of the eggs which has absorbed the flavour of the stew, monkfish and kale. Trust me, this is all shades of delicious. As breakfast, no one will want to leave the table till they have emptied their plates.

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To make it even more special, I served it with Oven Grilled, Spicy Plantain. #teamfitfam

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Breakfast of Champions, I tell you

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Enjoy!!!!!


30 Comments

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FILED UNDER: Healthy & Vegetarian recipes
TAGGED WITH: egg stew, kale egg stew, nigerian egg stew, vegetable egg stew
Dooney

About Dooney

Dooney is the blogger, recipe developer and photographer for Dooney's Kitchen. I spend my days trying to figure out creative ways to redefine Nigerian food, either by creating a new dish itself using ingredients in ways that have never been used before, or changing the approach to Nigerian cooking using kitchen gadgets.

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Comments

  1. AvatarAugusta says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:15 am

    hmmm, i agree with you….wonder if u have done any garden egg sauce with this kind of plantain u jst served …would be super nice u knw……..

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      April 29, 2014 at 1:41 pm

      Yes, I have. I have a garden egg sauce recipe on the blog. Please click here: http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2013/08/26/i-conquered-my-fear-of-garden-eggs/

      Reply
  2. Avataryetunde thuram says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:18 am

    Wow…..so glad to be on board. I now enjoy cooking more n fun. Tnx dunni

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      April 29, 2014 at 1:39 pm

      Thank you Yetunde. Welcome to Dooney’s Kitchen

      Reply
  3. AvatarLarmie says

    April 29, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      April 29, 2014 at 3:44 pm

      You are welcome Larmie

      Reply
  4. AvatarYemmie says

    April 29, 2014 at 5:07 pm

    Saturday!!! Can’t wait for u to come..I’m sure going to make this with boiled unripe plantain. Thank you

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      April 29, 2014 at 5:47 pm

      Wonderful Yemmie. Please do

      Reply
  5. AvatarOmoMakun says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:09 pm

    *cough**cough*, Dooney has come again! As much as love the veggie-fish egg, do you have a post on roasted plantain? Would love to try that too

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      May 1, 2014 at 10:24 am

      Yes, I have a post on roasted plantain. Click here: http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2014/03/22/bini-owo-soup/

      Reply
  6. Avatarkenny says

    May 1, 2014 at 12:14 am

    Please where can one get kale in lagos. I have search all the shoprites

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      May 1, 2014 at 10:15 am

      Hi Kenny, don’t stress looking for Kale anymore. Our very own Ugu does the trick. kale is jsut for those who live abroad and finding ugu is difficult or expensive. For this veggie-fishy egg stew, use our very own spinach or what we call Green in Lagos markets

      Reply
      • AvatarKenny says

        May 5, 2014 at 7:42 am

        Pleasw what is spinach called in yoruba.

        Reply
        • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

          May 5, 2014 at 10:51 am

          Hi Kenny, Spinach is called Tete in Yoruba

          Reply
  7. Avatarugochee says

    May 1, 2014 at 3:24 am

    Dooney, since I discovered ur blog, itz bin such a joy esp being a foodie of sum sorts and desiring so much more out of our Nigerian dishes. So very sad dat sum unscrupulous peeps be wanting to steal ur shine But God (and ur teeming fans) will keep tearing dem down. To meet u someday would be just beyond fab. I totally see u hosting a segment on Food Network. Zero icing on d cake. This recipe delivers on all shades of yummy and Austin fresh. Canna wait for daybreak to wow hubby with dis. He is such a foodie too. U r making happy homes and bellies. I know u hear dis a lot but jor, make I add my own 2 kobo: only God can bless u sufficiently.

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      May 1, 2014 at 10:14 am

      Aaaaaw, bless you ugochee. Thanks. Amen and Amen to your prayer. Thanks

      Reply
  8. AvatarElsmama says

    May 1, 2014 at 6:41 am

    I wont actually say i cooked this, made lots of substitutions as i had planned it for saturday but since there is a public holiday today decided to make do with what i had at home so brocolli went in place of Kale, no smokey monk fish or smoked titus either so i blended some dried catfish and used “sutchi fillet” this is the asian name i am not sure what type of fish it is actually but its white fish and practically has no taste of its own. In summary this came out really really good hubby asked for second helping lol thanks dooney you rock!

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      May 1, 2014 at 10:09 am

      Hi Elsamama, making substitutions is actually fantastic. It means you made the dish your own. Would like to say love the idea of broccoli but I hate broccoli. it ranks up there with Brussel sprouts, but the dried catfish and sutchi fillet is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Not surprised hubby asked for more. Well done

      Reply
  9. AvatarPrisca says

    May 18, 2014 at 12:09 am

    Breakfast this morning was definitely out of this world! Hubby ate so much he was asking “is this one of those recipe from the blog?”. Every husband knows you Dunni…lol, the difference you’ve made, I tell you is indescribable.

    I used mackerel, chopped tomatoes in cans and spinach; I didn’t need to blanch the spinach though, it cooked very well. I thought, spinach can be eaten raw anyway and is used in salads. It was beautiful and delicious! More grace and genius ideas Dunni.

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      May 19, 2014 at 12:55 pm

      Aaaaaw, thanks Prisca. Loved your twist with it. Well done

      Reply
    • AvatarJoy says

      September 8, 2014 at 12:44 pm

      Same here, Duni, you are indeed my blessing. Anytime I desire a new recipe I come here

      Reply
  10. AvatarOpe says

    June 3, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    Hi Duni, just to say thank you for ur lovely blog , have recommended you to many of my friends and we all find your blog superb ! Keep the fire on ! God bless . I’m even more challenged by the fact that you still work full time ! Cheers xxx

    Reply
  11. AvatarJoy says

    September 8, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    How do you blanch veg?

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      September 29, 2014 at 12:08 pm

      You pour hot water on it

      Reply
  12. AvatarOlamide says

    October 28, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    Hi Dunni, I find it difficult to print the recipes, as i need the printout to get the items needed and help with the cooking. just stumbled on your blog today and i have a lot of recipes i want to try out, how can it be printed? thanks

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      October 30, 2014 at 12:27 am

      Hi Olamide, there is a print button at the end of all recipes, before the comments start. You can print my recipes from there. i hope that helps

      Reply
  13. Avatarstephanie says

    January 27, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    Hi aunty Dunni,thanks 4 ds recipe.Can I use scent leaf(Efinrin)in place of kale?

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      January 28, 2015 at 2:12 am

      yes you can, but not too much as it may be overpowering

      Reply
  14. AvatarShayo says

    February 4, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    hmmn…trying this for le boo this saturday…Dunni you know you are my bestie, in my mind.

    Reply
  15. AvatarBeecee says

    April 2, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Dooneyrooney ooo, you are a sweetheart! I made this sauce this morning and it was heavenly!!! I used blanched ugwu and cod fish, and paired with boiled yam. Thanks and bless you loads.

    Reply

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Hi, my name is Dunni Obata, and I am what you would call the poster child for redefining Nigerian food. Welcome to Dooney's Kitchen, the home of Nigerian centric food, detailed recipes and sharing personal stories. Read more...

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