Okay, I have to say thank you to Aunty Iyabo Lawani for this recipe. I have made peppersoup more times than I can count, but I have never made this before. I have heard of it though, and seen pictures. I just thought it was the same as the Yam and Fish peppersoup my mum always made at home. I have blogged about Yam and Catfish peppersoup before (recipe HERE). This is a fragrant, flavour packed and herby version that I will call Yam and Peppersoup 2.0. This is a meal on its own.
On a cold and grey Sunday afternoon, I decided to try Ukodo. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, where have I been siiiiiince that I have never tried this before. I mean, I am a Delta girl, albeit the Asaba side, but I have strong family connections from Ugheli and I have eaten many many urhobo dishes prepared by my Aunties. From Banga soup with Starch to Ogwo soup (i think that is how it is spelled) and some Palm oil sauce which is the Urhobo version of Nkwobi but made with smoked fish. The thing is, I know lots of urhobo delicacies by sight and taste, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what they are called. There was no need to really, I just gobbled anything I was given at my Aunties house, and that was it. Daddy will probably know their names though, but you usually can’t discuss food with your Dad, like you would your mum. So, I am on a journey to cooking more urhobo recipes, and any urhobo person reading this, please hit me up. I am always open to journeying to different cultures through food.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have the ingredients to prepare this dish, but as my mum just left, bringing with her goodies from Lagos, I was more than happy to flex my muscles and show off the amazing contents of my cupboard and freezer. Here is my Ukodo, tweaked Dooney’s Kitchen style. I knew I had to add some bits of me into this dish. Apologies to the Urhobo food purists who may take offence at my additions, but hey food is personal. I did not deviate too far from the original recipe though, so please grant me foodie artistic license.
You will need
1. 6 slices of yam – cut into cubes
2. 2 pods of Uda – i don’t know the urhobo term
3. 2 pods of ehu or ehuru – african nutmeg
4. 3 pieces of Cameroon pepper – use cayenne pepper i.e. dry pepper as a substitute
5. Crayfish – ground to form about 2 – 3 tablespoons
6. I stalk of dried lemon grass – don’t sweat if you don’t have this
7. Leftover boiled chunks of Goat meat
8. leftover boiled chunks of Chicken
9. Shredded boiled stock fish
10. Chunks of Pomo – smoked cow skin
11. Chopped Efinrin (scent leaves) – basil is a good substitute or buy it dried and soak in a little hot water for a few minutes to soften
12. 4 ladle spoons of Beef Stock
13. Water
14. 1 small red onion
15. Seasoning cube – knorr chicken cube preferred
16. Salt
If you don’t have Uda or Ehuru at home, just use 1 tablespoon of ground Peppersoup spices
Left to Right: Uda and Ehu or ehuru (african nutmeg)
How To
1. Cut the yam tuber into 6 slices, peel off the skin and then cut into small sized cubes. Leave in a bowl of water and set aside.
2. Grind the ehu/ehuru with crayfish and cameroon pepper in a mill and set aside.
ensure that you roughly grind
3. Transfer the yam cubes into a deep saucepan or pot, add the beef stock, your choice of meats, the ground crayfish mixture from Step 2, chopped red onion, lemon grass, 2 Uda pods, and just about enough water to cook the yam. Add seasoning cube and salt. If you used stock, you may not need to add seasoning cubes or salt. Let your taste buds guide you.
Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: this dish can be explained as yam cooked in a spiced broth, so make sure you add just about enough water to cook the yam and not drown the yam, otherwise your broth will be diluted in flavour and it will lack that powerful punchy taste which is sooooooo Ukodo.
I feel like I should point out that you don’t have to use all the fleshy bits I listed. I was flexing my muscles as I was boiling a big pot of meats for the month. You can go with just one type of meat. I suggest Goat meat though, because of its flavour.
4. Allow the contents of the pot to boil until the yam is soft and the broth has thickened. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: i decided to boil under moderate heat, so that the broth doesn’t thicken faster than the yam can cook. Remember that I have in the pot, lots of fleshy bits which will also absorb water. This took longer, but it will also allow the meats absorb the flavour of ths spices. Brilliant!. The broth will thicken because of the yam that is cooked in it. This is fine, as the broth for Ukodo is meant to be thicker in consistency, than your average peppersoup (which is basically watery). If you ntoice that the broth has thickened considerably, but the yam cubes are still tough, add water in ladle spoon fulls to dilute it a little or simply add stock.
5. Once the yam cubes are now tender, add the chopped efinrin, stir and further lower the heat for 2 – 3 minutes to allow the herb infuse into the broth. If you have ended up with a very thick sludgy broth, dilute it again and re-season if necessary. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: remember, this is peppersoup and not yam porridge, so you should have a decent amount of broth to eat the yam with. Don’t drown it though, you will lose a lot of flavour.
……………………………….and you are done. I was told to serve with Palm oil, but I thought nah, me eating it like this.
Yam and Peppersoup 2.0
Ukodo or Epuru
Eating this was sheer delight – with each spoon, I gobbled up yam, pomo, goat meat, chicken or stockfish with this really strong broth. Ah, I had three portions straight up. Lol. I know you will enjoy this too. Urhobo people Wado oooooooooooo.
KODO OR EPURU RECIPE is Easy and straight forward you need good yam cut 6 slices into a pot and add enough water to cook add ground pepper, 2 pods of Egidije or what d Ibos call uda, 3 tbsp ground dry crayfish, 1tsp of ground African nutmeg, dry ground pepper to taste, a stalk of lemon grass seasoning and salt to taste your chicken or goat meat already cooked and cook everything together till yam is cooked and the broth slightly thickened add scent leaves a few and serve yam and soup on separate plates with palm oil on the side.
Ifey says
October 14, 2013 at 6:42 pmHmm, mouthwatering. Will try this tomorrow and paste the photo on the fb group. I noticed you didn’t use grounded pepper for the Ukodo, is that intentional? Will the uda and ehuru give the peppery taste?
dooneyrooney says
October 14, 2013 at 6:56 pmYou don’t use fresh pepper for Ukodo. Ground dry pepper is an option, but I wanted to use Cameroon pepper because of the extra flavour. I hope that helps
Nikki says
October 14, 2013 at 9:33 pmMy oooo my. It’s really so mouth watering. Can’t wait to try dis out. How does d Uda look like
dooneyrooney says
October 14, 2013 at 9:36 pmShortly aftet the list of ingredients is a picture of Uda and Ehuru
Cindy says
October 15, 2013 at 2:10 amDooney,
I was born and raised in Warri and Ukodo was a Christmas morning special by my mom (that is the only time she cooks it) and we all looked forward to it. Though we are not Deltans, my parents have lived in Delta State for almost 50 years.
I know she starts with the meat: live chicken or goat meat (nothing beats the taste of live chicken!) and midway through the cooking of the meat she puts the yam and unripe plantain and then adds the spices. We had a little garden by the side of our house and grew our own lemon grass and lime leaves so she uses fresh lemon grass.
The aroma that comes from the kitchen is heavenly 🙂 No matter how hungry we were, we waited patiently for the Ukodo; served with a side of palm oil.
If you ever get to cook it again when you are in naija, try it with fresh lemon grass and live chicken…..Ukodo will never taste the same again!
Now this preggo is craving mommy’s food and she’s far way 🙁
dooneyrooney says
October 15, 2013 at 9:57 amAaaaaw, big hugs dear. You can miss her less by making your own Ukodo, and just imagine you are eating hers. Congrats on the baby and all the best. Thanks about the tip on using fresh chicken. Some things you can only get at home. Le sigh. I will also try adding unripe plantains. I don’t like them though. Nothing beats the taste of ripe plantain either as dodo, boli or cut into yam porridge. Now, you are making me hungry and it is too early to be thinking of yam and plantain porridge. Le sigh again. Lol
dat1okrikababe says
October 15, 2013 at 9:23 amhi Dooney, check out http://cookingncleaning.blogspot.com/ its an urhobo foodie blog that i follow also, she post traditional urhobo recipes and cultural stuff.
i love pepper soup, great presentation!
dooneyrooney says
October 15, 2013 at 9:55 amThanks dat1okrikababe. I will check it out
adanne says
October 15, 2013 at 3:59 pmThat is the original ukodo recipe!
Dooney I love you girl but you can’t modify Ukodo!! !
dooneyrooney says
October 15, 2013 at 4:11 pmThanks Adanne. The interpretation of food is personal. As long as you don’t stray too far from a recipe to the point that the dish becomes something else, I believe you can modify away.
Mary says
October 16, 2013 at 5:29 pmHi Dooney,
So I was at world market and saw lemon grass (I have never used it), and I thought about this recipe. But, the kind I bought was a paste. What do you think?. What other recipes can lemon grass be used?
Thanks
Mary
dooneyrooney says
October 16, 2013 at 8:43 pmI am not sure, but it could work. Lemon grass is very lovely in Coconut rice and Thai chicken curry. I have both recipes on the blog
Mary says
October 16, 2013 at 10:56 pmThank you Dooney
dooneyrooney says
October 16, 2013 at 11:52 pmYou are welcome Mary
Runyte says
November 27, 2013 at 11:25 pmHi, I’m Urhobo, born and raised in Ughelli :D. I love to cook Ukodo, what I usually do, when I’m boiling my meat, depending on the kind of meat, I separate the goat and cow from others. When the goat and cow are half-way done, I put all my meat in one pot and boil them together, the secret though is to boil your meat with crayfish and after you put your yam and plantain, add your dried pepper, let boil for 2-3 minutes then add your spices and let boil for another 8-12 mins. Your ukodo will be awesome! I do that because I don’t want my spices to overcook. Nice job tho, I love your blog cooking is a passion for me. KUDOS!
dooneyrooney says
November 28, 2013 at 2:31 amWow Runyte, this is wonderful. I will definitely be trying it your way, next time
Tunde Oni says
January 5, 2014 at 6:49 amHello Dunni, Please how about white soup recipe?
dooneyrooney says
January 5, 2014 at 5:02 pmhttp://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2013/06/03/ofe-nsala-a-recipe-sent-in-by-a-reader/
Tracy says
March 27, 2014 at 10:46 pmDonney you rock…. I am going crazy at work looking at your food page.. well done
dooneyrooney says
March 29, 2014 at 4:18 pmAaaaw, thank you Tracy
Norah says
June 5, 2014 at 10:32 amDunni, you are a blessing!! ☆♥♡★ I was looking for this recipe for ages, and I tried it last night, its beautiful, there was no leftovers lol I cooked it for the first time, having no idea how it should taste lol im not a nigerian so you literally guided me, and I got thumbs up, the man was delighted as he havent eaten ukodo for a lot of years. Thank you, looking forward to more urhobo recipes.
teekay says
June 18, 2014 at 3:14 pmThanks Dooney. I’ll be trying this today to fight a cold. You are a life saver!!
dooneyrooney says
June 18, 2014 at 3:33 pmThank you teekay. Please do and let me know
Seyi Oyeneyin says
November 27, 2014 at 8:38 amhave never tried cooking ukodo with crayfish. should try it soon.
Efe says
December 23, 2015 at 12:13 pmDunni…what a blessing you are. Married to an urhobo hunk for 11 years and only cooked ukodo for the first time last month after reading through your blog……. Did not have a choice as the pictures got me drooling…..
It turned out to be fantastic….my husband’s comment was “You are wicked not to have had this delicacy done for me in all these years” while my 8 year old daughter thought it her best meal in all of her 8 years and wanted it served everyday.
Coming across your blog was one of the best things that happened to me this year…thanks to my friend, Tomi who loves cooking. Also tried your chicken stew and trilogy stew (Lol) as well as the mama Adeola stew (hope I got the name right) and adhered strictly to the number of minutes etc….. They all turned out awesome….Now l am a better cook……
God bless you for being so generous with you talents and gifts……with all the step by step pictures……You are amazing! My bible say that a man’s gifts will bring you before kings……You see not an exception to that promise…… That is indeed your testimony in the coming year 2016!
God bless you