First of all, Hi Five if you were raised by an Ijebu Grandmother. Honestly, we need to have our own fan club or something, because it is truly a privilege to have or in my case, to have had an Ijebu grandmother in your life. Whichever part of Ijebuland, your grandmother was from, please happily join the fan club. I got a good friend of mine Yemi Oladipo, who we fondly call Mama Yemi to make this poster. Mama Yemi has all sorts of talents, did I tell you she has 5 beautiful girls who are super brainy and talented too. I am sure one or two of them plus her came up with this poster. Big hugs Mama Yemi, I appreciate you.
I am always, always, looking to add stew recipes to the blog. I think the Nigerian Red Stew is one of the most underrated of our dishes and I am glad, I have been able to showcase it in different ways. Who said stew has to be boring?
Why is it named Mama Adeola’s stew? Well, this recipe was gotten from Olusola Sanni and this is his grandmother’s recipe. I saw the picture of stew on Facebook, it looked nice, scrolled on by and forgot about it. Then I saw it on again 2 days after on top of the news feed. Clicked on the comments and saw the recipe. The very first thing that came to my mind were words in Yoruba (yes, I think in Yoruba sometimes, lol). ‘Obe arugbo, lobe yi, Obe Iya Ijebu pa pa. In English – I can spy an old woman’s touch in this. Like a very old woman. An Ijebu woman for that matter. My foodie spider senses were really buzzing because it reminded me of my grandmothers Alapa Stew. While Iye Gbuyi used Iru and Smoked Fish, Mama Adeola used Iru and Stockfish powder. I didn’t even know that Sola was a He, and I also didn’t read the caption atop the picture. When I scrolled back up again and read the caption, I saw Ijebu Ode, my grand mum. BOOM!!!! You can’t imagine the whoop, whoop I said out loud. I was Corrrrrrrrrrect. I swear those Ijebu grandmothers must know each other somehow or have some town hall meeting we the younger generation didn’t know about.
What also made me want to try it was because of something Sola wrote, which my mum has always said, and which she too picked up from her mum (Iye Gbuyi). Your Pepper selection. My mother drummed this into my ears from very early on. The secret to any great tasting stew is your pepper selection. No two ways about it. When the pepper is boiling, you will already get a fairly accurate hint of what the end result will taste like. This is evident when you make Buka Stew. It starts from the pepper selection, so when I saw Sola write the same thing too, I thought Hi five, you were raised by an Ijebu Grandmother. We know ourselves. Looooooooool. LIke with Buka Stew too, Palm Oil and Vegetable Oil was used. This recipe was so up my alley, I knew cooking it would be a breeze. But first things first, I sent him a message, asking for permission to not just try out the recipe, but blog about it. Very important. He agreed, even added a couple of extra tips about bleaching the palm oil and I was good to go. So, while you scroll through the recipe below, If you have Ijebu blood flowing through your veins from a grandmother connection. Hi Five to you. Our grandmamma’s threw it down in the kitchen and we were fed with very good food, it defined our taste buds. This is why it irritates me when I hear ignorant sentences like Yoruba women cannot cook. Really?????? How many Yoruba women have you met?
Since Easter is upon us, I decided what’s the best time than this to introduce another stew. Especially as I know many would have been discouraged from attempting my Trilogy Stew due to the duration of cooking. Well, here is an amazing alternative. Something to wow your guests. I amended bits and bobs of Sola’s recipe.
You will need
6 – 7 pieces of Tatashe
5 ripe tomatoes Tomatoes
5 pieces of Ata rodo – habanero pepper/scotch bonnet
1 and a half pieces of red Onions
2 cooking spoons of Ground crayfish
3 cooking spoons of Ground Stockfish Powder
2 heaped tbs of Iru
Palm OIl
Sunflower oil – or your choice of cooking oil
Smoked Goat Meat with the skin on
Goat Meat Stock
Salt
Seasoning cubes
As mentioned before, this recipe is quite easy peasy. If you are familiar with stew recipes already on the blog, this just switches things up a little, to delicious results. No one prepared me for chomping up bits of stockfish to grind into a powder though. Sheeeeesh. I wanted to give up and cheat, but for the sake of whose recipe it was, an Ijebu woman, I had to pay respects and follow it to the letter. If you have no such qualms, I will list a cheat way out to save you from the hassle.
He also wrote about grinding the pepper the traditional way using a stone. Errrrrrr, sorry Mama Adeola, ain’t no way in *cough* *cough* is that going to happen, even if I had access to one. I love being a woman in 2014, I love being a cook in 2014. In the words of John Legend – “love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections (love that song ‘All of Me’ by the way). Dooney’s Kitchen equivalent, with the melody humming in my head, “Love my gadgets and my devices, all their stress free perfections. Hehehehehehehehe.
How To
1. Rinse and season your Goat meat with salt and seasoning cubes. Bring your Goat Meat to boil and cook to soften. Sola’s Tip: he recommended using goat meat for this and I so agree. I even took it further by using smoked goat meat with the skin on. The real ‘ogunfe’ as Yoruba people call it. You also need to start on this the day before you cook the stew to allow the goat meat absorb more flavour from its own stock. I made this the night before.
2. Prepare the stockfish powder. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip; to save yourself the trouble the next day, better do this now, trust me. Here’s my experience:
I flaked off bits of the head of stockfish because as my Igbo people say, that is the real ‘okporoko’. The head has more flavour than the rest of the body. Sola’s mum does not agree. They have thiis argument all the time, and he knows he can cook better than her. In his words “she gave up the competition 4 years ago” Hahahahahahahaha. Sola is a caterer by the way and cooks amazing food, you need to see his pictures. Free advert for you Bros, honestly, I should start charging people for a mention. Hehehehehehehehehe.
I sat down with this thing at stupid o’clock in the early hours of the morning battling with to flake the meaty bits. Sheeeesh, even after managing to flake some, with a powerful mill from a food processor 850W, not all the pieces ground into a fine powder. I had to pass it through a mesh sieve to get the powder. Stockfish is gangster. I bow. Those Norwegians sure know how to dry the hell out of fish. You didn’t know Stockfish came from Norway? Oh yes it does. Big shame on Nigeria. To avoid this stress, please just boil your goat meat with stockfish, and also add that boiled stockfish to the stew from scratch. Problem solved. You still get the flavour without fighting with an inanimate animal. Lol
That’s your prepping done for the day. You could also blend the iru and ingredients for the pepper mixture you need and place in the fridge. To blend, you only need a very rough blend. Remember, we are 2014 cooks, and we are only mimicking the gruelling grind stone method (ugh, the thought gives me shivers). Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: only keep the engine running for a few seconds at a time and don’t over fill the blender, otherwise the bottom bits will get a smooth blend, while the top will be rough. Sola’s Cooking Tip:you don’t need to pre-boil the pepper.
D-day for cooking is here, as you can see, the goat meat has been chilling nicely in its own stock. You can choose to scrape off the fat if you wish.
3. Take out the goat meat and fry or Grill. for the first time since I made Alapa, I fried meat. I wanted to go with Mama Adeola’s recipe. I will be grilling next time
4. Heat up 3 – 4 cooking spoons of palm oil in a pot to bleach it, and by bleach it Sola’s Cooking Tip: you only need to bleach the palm oil to the point it begins to darken, but still retains undertones of orange i.e. don’t bleach till it turns black as you would do with Ayamase. He suggested to do a white paper test.
See, the palm oil has darkened but with orange highlights
white paper test. Brown but still orangey
5. Pour in the ground crayfish and stockfish powder.
allow to fry for 2 – 3 minutes
you would start to see the palm oil foam and you will smell the intense flavour of the crayfish and stockfish powders frying. A very native smokey, fishey flavour. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Stir and be careful not to let it burn.
6. Add the pepper to the pot and sunflower oil used to fry the goat meat. If you grilled your meat instead, just pour oil from the bottle into the pot and let it fry for a bit. Roughly 7 – 10 minutes.
Then add the stock and let it fry for another 5 minutes. By then, the pepper should start to show signs of the beginning of the fried stew look, but it is not yet ready.
With further time on medium heat, it fries more and starts to resemble thickly fried stew. See how roughly ground the pepper is. Grinding stone who?
7. You know it is time to add the goat meat, when oil floats back to the top and pepper stock bubbles are pooling in the middle i.e. the more watery bits of the pot
see what I mean
8. The meats are in now, cover the pot, leave it on medium heat and just walk away and leave it to do its thing. It will further fry and keep reducing. Further 15 minutes in, open the pot and you should have this pale orangey stew will lots and lots of water bubbles scattered all over the place. What i noticed when I got to this stage was that the oil sta on top like a film, while the bubbles were kinda poking through. Unlike with other stews where the oil floats around on top in patches.
I went to take a peek at Sola’s picture and yup. Mine looked exactly like that. In retrospect, I think it is because I added more vegetable oil than palm oil because the filmy on the surface look is characteristic of cooking with transparent oils, as they don’t have the same density and weight unlike Palm oil.
By this point, you are done. Believe it or not, your stew has fried. All you need to do is stir and you would see the rich pebbly look that is so characteristic of well fried stew, or as Yoruba people say ‘obe din din’ or ‘obe ata din din’.
See what I mean?
To really appreciate the glorious beauty of this stew, I implore you to serve in a white bowl.
and watch your friends and family go Aaaaaah, lovely stew. Get me rice please
The aroma, trust me, you want to make this. The Iru is there, but it is not strong like with Ayamase. The harmony of the ground crayfish and stockfish, true symphony.
The stew has this fine smell like this, very attractive. Don’t you just want to eat that with rice?
To even get it more authentic Ijebu, serve with Ofada Rice atop of moin moin leaves. I tell you, I was a very happy bunny last night. If you live in the UK, it is not too late to order Clevenard Ofada rice for Easter. At £4.49 for 1kg, this is not inclusive of the 10% discount for Dooney’s Kitchen readers, it is truly a steal. To order Ofada rice online, click HERE
Chai!i can perceive the aroma from here already…loll
Oh, Tomi, you definitely need to try it
This looks nice ….i really need to give it a try…… Well done Dooney.
Your work truly defines borne passion and creativity and no one can take that from u……..
Please do try it Augusta
Hello Dooney, how can we get the Ofada rice in the US.
Hi Modupe, you could check African stores. Let me ask the person running the advert if he ships to the US or has a distributor there
Sadly, I haven’t found ofada rice in d USA. TSA confiscated mine. I pray ur contact ships to d US o, auntie Dunni
Let me ask him for you. He has also gotten such requests from people in the US, so let me check if he is looking into it
Aunty Dunni, I want to make this but I’m not sure if I will get it right. I have made buka stew twice without good results. After I put palm oil the stew becomes thick and I cant see any oil. Am not sure if it is the palmoil because I have used it for ayamase and it tasted yummy.
Aaaaaaw, big hugs Abimbola, the stew should already be quite watery, but not too watery before you add the palm oil o. Plus you are only adding a little palm oil and palm oil doesn’t thicken soup at all, so I am guessing the stew was already thick before you added the palm oil, so when you did add plan oil, the thick stew absorbed it and you couldn’t see any oil. I suggest you use the pictures in this link to guide you. I have posted my buka stew in pictures link. http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2014/03/10/buka-stew-in-pictures/
Na wa oo…the rate at which Dunni keeps throwing down this Ijebu Recipies, I’ll have to marry a man with an Ijebu mother or grandmother! I still love my Ondo town sha. No one throws down Obe Ila-Asepo like we do….heheheh..
Headed to the store to go buy my ingredients for Mama Deola stew.
Btw, how did Ijebu grand mothers get the powdered Stock Fish in those days especially since i doubt they used food processors?
-BabyDee
To tell you the truth, I have wondered myself. I hope your Mama Deola Stew turns out great
I’m actually at the tail end of the cooking. Cooked the meat last night. My soup is dark though, not orangy like in your picture and I only used 5 tatashe though cos these things are huge here in the US. I was wondering how big the ones you used were.
You won’t believe how I got stock fish powder though. My mum had bought a
used coffer grinder at a yard sale for $1 and I had been yabbing her on her new thrifty finds hobby. This $1 grinder is what grinded the stock fish and cray fish into powder. My mum was so happy to rub it in my face! I wish I could upload pics for you to see.
Hmmmmn, my tatashe are the average 9ja size. Not sure how much bigger the ones in the US are. LMAO about the coffee grinder. Don’t mums just love it when they are right. Loooool
Just made mine now. Really taste so nice. Different taste abd flavour. Thsnks Dooney
Lovely to read Bimpe
Just made the Mama Adeola stew a few days ago and it was awesome! As an Ijebu woman myself ( both parents, all four grandparents) I can appreciate the taste. Even my husband who was skeptical about putting iru in stew loved it so much, he over-ate! Lol! Thanks so much dearie.
You are welcome Moji, gld to read a true full blooded Ijebu woman enjoyed it
God bless Mama deolaa,olusola nd most esspecially my Oladunni.made d stew lst nyt,d smell was so nice nd d taste was out of dis world.though hubby is not a fan of iru he loves ogiiri.dished d stew wt rice and plaintain for hubby to work.guess wat!said his colleagues r comin over tomorrow to eat rice and dis special stew.tnks dunni
Aaaaaw, well done Ruqouyah. Please make plenty for hubby’s colleagues o, because that pot will finish. Lol
Dooney rooney tun gbe de o. E so omo alare!!! I too love you my Ijebu sister.
As a 3rd generation ijebu girl, I can vouch for this Iya Deola stew. My granny (God bless your soul YERENI) used to cook something similar when she was alive. Momsie died when we were young (I was 13), so Yeeni, as we called her, looked after us in Iperu-Remo during the holidays. I was always impatient for it to fry and I used to sit by the stove waiting for it. Tasted divine and smelt heavenly. Thanks so much for bringing this back to life for me.
Just finished making dodokire b4 I stumbled across this stew. I found my next project!!! lol
Even hubby asked if I was “doing cookery class” bcos awon ounje ojo meta yi yato.
God bless you omo re mi. More epo pupa to your elbow.
Will find a way to post my foody pics to SYTYCC (but I be bush ijebu girl)…have done Ikokore, Ojojo, Yamballs and now Dodokire. Looking forward to many more. Much love.
Dedayo
Eweso o. I tell you, those Ijebu Grandmothers all knew themselves somewhat. Aaaaw, sorry to hear about your Mum. Big Hugs. Happy to hear Mama cooked hers similarly. She was from Iperu remo too? No way, so is my grandmum, grandpa too for that matter. Hahahahahahahaha about Hubby’s cooment. Keep cooking o jare. Thank you for your heartfelt comment
Okies ! So I’ve tried my mama Adeola’s stew as well n I’m here to testify that it indeed is the real deal. Thank u Dunni. Needless say everything we’ve been eating in my house since making it had had to have the stew on it. Just name it.. Moin moin , salad,
it is the real deal Tee Babs. Well done. Moin Moin and Salad. Wow. You are soooo gangster
Hello dooney, is there other name 4 iru, I live in US. Thanks
It will be called Iru in African stores or Ogiri Isi
i dont like goat meat. can i use some other form of meat to prepare mama adeola stew?
YEs you can. Use beef
This stew is to die foor, just finished preparing it and it tastes so nice . Though I didn’t blend my stockfish because my blender coulddnt do it and I added grilled titus fish to mine
i Tinuke, happy to read that you enjoyed it. Next time, just boil the stockfish with the goat meat, and also fry the stockfish for a bit in palm oil. You will get the flavour
I made a little quantity of this in my husband’s absence as he wouldn’t approve the addition of iru (he’s very choosy when it comes to food). Well he ate it and wanted more. He said it was different in a very good way. He wants me to make a large quantity of it (that means the stew was a hit. All thanks to you Dooney).
I have a question Dooney, can I replace iru with any other kind of ogiri (the Igbo type) and if yes, what kind? Ogiri okpeyi or ogiri isi. I’m feeling very adventurous. Thank You.
Oh Wow, well done. I always love reading stories of converting family members to eating and enjoying food they ordinarily wouldn’t have. Ogiri Isi is the best to use. Not sure how ogiri okpei would taste in this stew
Can’t keep up o. Got at least 2 different new stew recipes to try now. Thank God I am in Nigeria I will definitely take the stockfish to the market to grind. My cheapskate blender won’t survive the rigours of blending stockfish! Now torn btw this and the red trilogy stew which I still haven’t found the time to make yet. Hmm, I think I’ll try this first and the other next weekend.
Dooney, God bless you for trying out and putting up this recipe on your blog. Was away from SYTCC when the latest SYTCC Maestro Olusola Sanni posted this but caught a whiff (all pun intended) of the oohs and aahs over the recipe-I mean even Terry Adidio who has previously mentioned that he was not too enamoured of Nigerian food had to try it out, so that is saying a LOT! I had been trying to search the group for the recipe but couldn’t find a concise step by step recipe-it all seemed disjointed in the comments section so I am truly grateful that you tried out the recipe and put it up here where one can see it all on one page with step by step instructions and pictures to boot.
God bless you as always!
Folu, you have to keep up o. In fact, I have two more stews coming up. One, I will definitely keep for my recipe book, because I want a stew recipe in it, the other I found out on Facebook and want to try. Thank you for realising that this blog serves as a permanent resource that saves people from endless searching.
I noticed that the tatashe is more than the tomatoes. I thought tatashe makes food dark. Please help me out Dunni. By the way…………..i LOVE your blog! I check other blogs, then i balance on yours! Lav eeettt!!!
Loool. Thanks Maureen. Tatashe would only make a soup really dark if it is the type that has started to rot, and if you let it fry for a long time, as the colour changes as it gets darker. I hope that helps
Dunni! I made this stew and it was fabulous. My husband said it tasted like “obe awon agba”. That how I knew I did it well :). He’s half Ijebu – the food loving half. I didn’t use stock fish bone o. I whizzed some the fleshy bits in the dry blender. Didn’t get to powder stage at all, but it was good enough to use.
Muchas gracias!
This weekend, I will make chapman and clubsandwich for my kids. Then naija flag eba for myself. I have some egunsi soup that only green white green eba will do justice to.
Keep up the good work!
Ah, it is well. I am watching my weight but sitting here salivating and planning the next thing I will do in the kitchen courtesy of dooneeeeeeeeyyy! My mouth was literally filling up as I scrolled down to see the finished stew. Well done!
Loooool snufflylovely. Try it out o
Wo weight watching? #foggeraboutit This stew will go so well with hot yam and Beans. I am trying out the gbegiri recipe and this stew this weekend. Keep up the good work jare! I will continue watching the weight on Monday when my stew finishes 🙂
Hahahahaha
Cookbook ooooooo. This is stew to drool for.
Thank you Kemi. Amen and Amen, it will be published