Oha soup is a traditional Nigerian delicacy, popular in the southeastern region of the country. This rich and flavourful dish is a staple in Igbo cuisine, known for its distinct taste and hearty ingredients. Oha soup is made from the leaves of the oha (African rosewood) plant, which gives it its unique flavour. Combined with other indigenous ingredients like cocoyam, assorted meats, and spices, this soup offers a truly authentic taste of Nigerian culinary heritage. Whether you’re looking to reconnect with traditional flavours or explore a new recipe, oha soup is a dish that satisfies and comforts.
The preparation of oha soup involves a careful balance of ingredients and techniques to create the perfect consistency and flavour. While it might seem intimidating at first, making this soup is quite straightforward once you have the right ingredients and follow the steps. Whether you’re cooking for family, friends, or a special occasion, this step-by-step guide will help you prepare a delicious pot of oha soup that is sure to impress. Let’s dive into the ingredients and the process to get started!
Ingredients
- Cocoyam
- Palm oil
- Dry fish
- Stockfish
- Meat
- Oha leaves
- Seasoning
- Salt
- Ugba/Okpe
- Pepper
- Crayfish
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Preparation Steps of Oha Soup
1. Get all the Ingredients Ready
The first step you should take in the preparation of your oha soup is to get and gather the necessary ingredients and condiments for the soup. Before you move on to any other thing, you need to ensure that all the ingredients are ready for the soup. The ingredients needed for the soup have been mentioned earlier in the article.
2. Prepare the Cocoyam
The second step is to prepare the cocoyam you’ll use in thickening the soup. You prepare the cocoyam by washing and boiling them. You wash them properly and put them into a pot to boil for 30 minutes. When they have boiled, you remove their husks and blend or pound them. To ensure they don’t form lumps when you prepare them, you need to add oil as you blend or pound them.
3. Prepare the Dry fish and Stockfish
After blending the cocoyam, the next step is to prepare the dry fish and stockfish. You can prepare these by boiling water and soaking these fish in them. When the water you used in soaking these fishes must have cooled, you wash the fishes properly.
4. Blend the Peppers and Crayfish
You blend the peppers and crayfish to ensure it’s ready for the soup pot.
5. Wash and cut the Oha Leaves
The next preparatory step is to wash and cut the ọha leaves.
6. Boil the Meat
Boiling the meat you’ll use is the next step after cutting the oha. You need to ensure that you don’t boil the meat too much, boil it for a few minutes to soften it a bit and kill the germs. Before boiling the meat, you need to ensure that you wash and season the meat.
When the meat must have been boiled, you get down the pot, get out the meat, and place the pot back on the fire.
Cooking Steps of Oha Soup
1. Put Oil and Cocoyam Paste into the Pot
The next step after putting the pot of meat water on fire is to put oil and cocoyam paste into the boiling meat water. When you put these, you need to ensure you use your kitchen spoon to break up the lumps of the cocoyam paste. If this is done, cover the pot to boil for 5 minutes.
2. Add Ugba, Seasoning, Pepper and Crayfish
After five minutes, when the cocoyam paste and palm oil must have boiled properly, you open the pot to check for cocoyam lumps so you can dissolve them with your kitchen spoon. Once the cocoyam paste in the pot doesn’t have lumps, you can go ahead to add ugba, pepper, seasoning, and crayfish. If the soup is too thick, you can add a little hot water. Next, you cover the pot to cook for another five minutes.
3. Add Stockfish, Dry fish, Meat, and Salt
The next items to add are the stockfish, dry fish, meat, and salt. When you add, you steer the soup and cover the pot to cook for a few minutes.
4. Add Oha Leaves and Check for Taste
The last thing you will add is the oha leaves. You steer the soup when you add the leaves, and then you check for good taste. If the soup is without taste or not up to your desired taste, you add more seasoning, salt, and pepper.
You cover the pot and let it cook for a few minutes again before you remove the pot from the fire.
You can eat the oha soup with all forms of swallows like akpu, garri, corn flour, semolina flour, pounded yam, and so on.
Conclusion
Oha soup is a very sweet soup with great taste that’s somewhat stress-free to make. Originating from south-east Nigeria, the soup is gaining popularity across Nigeria. It is a soup that can be made with little or no expertise.
