Oha soup is one of the favourite dishes of the South Eastern part of Nigeria. In many ways oha soup is similar to bitter leaf soup, but with one major difference: while bitter leaf is available all year round, ora leaves, the main ingredient of the dish, are seasonal, which makes the soup even more special. Find out how to make oha soup!
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1. Ingredients for oha soup
Before we move on to the tutorial on how to prepare oha soup, let’s see which ingredients you’re going to need:
- Ora leaves – 1 bunch
- Cocoyam – 8 medium balls (if you can’t find it, substitute it with cocoyam flour or potato flour dissolved in a small quantity of water)
- Assorted beef
- Assorted fish
- Red palm oil – 3 tbsp
- Ogiri Igbo – 1 tsp
- Stock cubes – 2
- Salt, chilli pepper, crayfish – to taste
2. How to cook oha soup
Preparing oha soup is not a complicated process, but it delivers an amazing result – a delicious and nutritious soup your whole family will love. Here is how to make it.
- Wash and boil the cocoyam until it becomes soft. Grind the balls with a pestle and mortar until they form a smooth paste.
- Wash the ora leaves and shred them into small pieces with your hands. Don’t cut them with a knife, since they will get darker in colour and lose some of their nutritional value.
- Put your protein (assorted beef and fish) into a large pot, cover with water and boil until the meat is ready. Add the stock cubes and boil for 5 more minutes.
- Add the Ogiri Igbo, ground crayfish and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Gradually add the cocoyam paste to thicken the soup and then pour in the palm oil. Cover the pot and boil until the cocoyam dissolves.
- Lastly, add the ora leaves and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the salt to taste, give the soup one last big stir and serve.
3. Other ways to make oha soup
Now that you know the ingredients and how to cook oha soup, you can spice up the original recipe by adding other popular ingredients of Nigerian cuisine. Check out some of the tastiest varieties of oha soup.
1. How to prepare oha soup with achi
Achi can be used in oha soup instead of cocoyam as a thickening agent. To make this soup, simply dissolve the achi in a small quantity of water until it turns into a smooth paste and add to the soup to thicken it.
2. How to cook oha soup with ofo
Ofo is another popular thickening agent that is often used in recipes for traditional Nigerian soups. You can use it for oha soup as well – it doesn’t need any preparation, just add as much ofo as needed to make the soup reach the desired consistency, stirring well in the process.
3. How to make oha soup with uziza
You can add a unique flavor to your oha soup by adding uziza. You can use uziza leaves, uziza seeds, or both of them for an especially delicious and flavourful soup. Make sure not to overcook the uziza – add uziza leaves at the same stage as ora leaves and cook them for no more than 5 minutes.
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