Oh yes, you read that correctly. Oha soup, in another direction. One of you left a snippet of this recipe as a comment ages ago. I had totally forgotten about it, until I saw Rita Peters’s Oha soup on Facebook. At first glance you would think it was Egusi soup, and she said this is a dish eaten by the Abriba people. I looked at it and then remembered that I had seen that somewhere on the blog. I went a searching, and found it in my drafts folder. Unfortunately, I only copied the comment, not the name of the person that dropped it. I have done a search and boy the search results are sooooo long, it will take me ages to get through them, so if you are the one who dropped that comment, I will appreciate it if you could holla, so I can say thank you again.
I was going to make the Egusi base flat, so that it closely resembled the cocoyam base you would expect with Oha soup, but I thought that would be a cop out, also, I did remember my Efik frien Joy, married to an Igbo man and she taught me that Igbo people tend to like their Egusi in pebbled form. In her words Igbo men don’t like flat Egusi or the big lumpy one like Yoruba people do, but in small small “dot, dot” form. A little sexist comment, but hey, I was in the mood for some shock factor too, I would call it Oha soup, and you guys will goo whaaaaaaat! Ah ha. Gotcha. I also discovered something totally by accident which produced the best Egusi I have ever cooked. I sat down and thought what the hell, how come that never occurred to me all these years, knowing my experience with Nigerian ingredients, but nah, not giving that one out. It will be my secret weapon for the meal drop off and pick up service. It is a tip caterers will give their right arms for and use, without me getting a penny, so let me keep quiet, biko. Lol. When you request for my Egusi, be prepared to be blown away, I assure you. Let’s Cook
- Powdered Egusi
- Oha leaves
- Uziza leaves
- Assorted Meat
- Beef Stock
- Crayfish
- Smoked fish
- Iru
- Palm Oil
- Onions - optional
- Ata Lilo - tatashe and ata rodo (read more HERE)
- Heat up Palm oil and fry chopped onions for a bit till they burn slightly
- Mix Egusi with water till it forms a semi thick paste, add to the pot
- Keep stirring constantly until the egusi takes on the look of pebbles. Best to do this on medium heat, otherwise the egusi will burn .
- Add your ata lilo to the pot and stir until well combined. Keep stirring, add your beef stock, Iru, crayfish, smoked fish and meats. The volume of beef stock you add to the egusi will depend on your preference. You can choose to have this thick or slightly watery. Readjust for salt and seasoning, and make sure you are happy with the taste before you add the vegetables
- Add the Oha leaves
- Followed by the Uziza leaves.
- Give the vegetables a few more minutes, and take down while they are still green. The Uziza flavour permeates through the soup, and the Oha provides another flavour profile and most of all crunch. I served this with Yam pounded with Eba
.
. The volume of beef stock you add to the egusi will depend on your preference. You can choose to have this thick or slightly watery. Readjust for salt and seasoning, and make sure you are happy with the taste before you add the vegetables
.
maggie says
March 11, 2015 at 7:59 pmWow will try this out by weekend for the famiy
Tallen says
March 12, 2015 at 5:18 pmPlease how can I connect with you? I sent an email but I haven’t gotten a response yet
dooneyrooney says
March 12, 2015 at 9:49 pmHi Tallen, I didn’t get any email
nneka says
March 13, 2015 at 2:04 pmI wld definitely prepare dis for my family tomao.so excited already. I use uziza leaf 4 my ogbono but I haven’t tried it wit egusi
Ese says
March 14, 2015 at 7:34 amHello Dunni thanks for this. i plan on making it this weekend but yoy have not stated the ratio of Oha and Uziza to use
dooneyrooney says
March 17, 2015 at 2:57 pmHi, sorry for the late reply. about 70-30 or 80-20
Dzaya says
March 16, 2015 at 3:03 pmYeaa… I prepare this a lot and d taste is super amazing! Weldone Dunn!
Enny Ola says
March 22, 2015 at 3:00 pmi tried dis weekend and it was really really awesome and delicious, my hubby and mum inlaw cant stop talking abt d soup, thanks dunni
Prisca says
March 26, 2015 at 5:53 pmThis is how my mum cooks oha soup and the only way I cook oha until about 2 years ago I started using ede. It’s delicious, I prefer this method anytime.
Ms. oneal says
April 2, 2015 at 12:13 pmhi dear..pleas i would so love to try this method..how can i print out your recipes cos each time i try to print out i don’t get it done, its easier to use a print out than carrying my laptop into the kitchen
Doris says
April 4, 2015 at 3:01 pmWow! I’m Igbo and to say there are igbo soups that I’ve not explored is shocking to me, why because I love to cook and I try to explore new recipes to try often. Thank God for finding you Dooney, cos now I’ll leave the exploring to you, and just copy of your delicious recipes.
Back to this soup, my mum used to make Ogbonno-uha soup, it’s Ogbonno soup but for veggies she uses just a sprinkle of uha and the taste is to die for. I don’t know about egusi-uha but be sure that I’m checking it out thank God I have a friend on her way from Naija with fresh uha leaves, I can’t wait!
dooneyrooney says
April 5, 2015 at 3:36 pmOgbonno with Oha, now that I have to try. Thanks for mentioning it.
Uduak says
April 10, 2015 at 4:51 pmHow did the garri Or pounded turn out lik doughnuts
dooneyrooney says
April 13, 2015 at 11:57 pmImpressed with my thumb
dooneyrooney says
April 13, 2015 at 11:58 pmI pressed
Olufunke says
April 14, 2015 at 2:02 pmDefinitely trying this today. Hubby got me a Kenwood food processor for my birthday gift yesterday. Going to make pounded yam and this soup. Hmmm… can’t wait to get home.
Khadijah Oppong - Ansah says
April 23, 2015 at 12:22 pmHello Dunni, thanks for this recipe. I joined DK Tribe and i have been experimenting a lot (thanks to you) however i cant upload my pics and recipe as others do, i really would love to show some pics. kindly explain the process for me.
dooneyrooney says
April 24, 2015 at 9:05 amHi, an explanation as to what to do, is on the tribe site. including screenshots. let me find the link
josephine says
May 13, 2015 at 1:33 pmHi dooney, I actually stumbled onto ur blog. Cooking has always been something I have to do, but since I met you,i must say, I actually look forward to cooking and trying out new dishes!
Plz eh… how much iru should one use? and is d ground iru or d seed ones u used?
dooneyrooney says
May 27, 2015 at 11:30 amThe quantity of Iru depends on your tolerance level for the flavour. Some like it minimal, some like it intense
Dammy says
July 7, 2015 at 10:55 pmHi Dooney,
I do have a surprise party planned for my hubby this weekend and I am dying to make Egusi as my friend kind of got busy at the last minute and wont be able t make it. She is from Akwa-ibon and I have always liked her vegetables.
Can you tell me the ratio of Uziza to oha for this?
dooneyrooney says
July 23, 2015 at 4:58 pmmore oha, a little uziza
Tobore says
September 24, 2015 at 6:18 pmWhat is ata lilo. Please explain
dooneyrooney says
September 25, 2015 at 3:11 amHi, please click on this link. It will explain everything: http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2015/02/20/ata-lilo-the-nigerian-pepper-base/
enoquin says
October 9, 2015 at 12:49 pmI have tried severally to subscribe to your blog. It confirms my subscription but nothing is sent to my mail. Can you look into this? Huge fan
Dunni Obata says
October 13, 2015 at 9:43 pmhi, i am looking into it. it will be fixed soon.
JOD says
December 27, 2015 at 2:43 amI like that you attach the step by step pictures to your recipes. Thank you so much!