Efo Riro Recipe: How to Cook Tasty Yoruba Efo Riro (Vegetable Soup)

Efo riro is a delicious and rich Yoruba soup prepared with fresh vegetables and assorted meat; this soup is well known for its savoury taste and richness. The rich flavour of efo riro comes from the locally made locust beans (iru or dawadawa).This fresh vegetable soup can be prepared with one of these two leafy vegetables- Efo Shoko or Efo Tete (Green Amaranth); these two vegetables are commonly sold in many Nigerian markets. Efo riro simply means vegetable soup, it is the Yoruba version of edikanikong soup; it can be served with any kind of starchy bolus (eba, fufu, pounded yam or semolina), but most people serve this with boiled yam. Another different ways of cooking efo riro is to combine it with ground egusi to make what some people usually referto as efo riro egusi or it can be combined with egual parts of either Shoko or Tete and Ugwu leaf (Nigerian pumpkin leaf).

However, you can choose to make your efo riro without palm oil by simply using a blend of tomatoes and tatase (red bell peppers) to produce a reddish efo riro (vegetable soup)if you prefer, but in the absence of tomatoes, you can bleach palm oil for just few seconds and use it for the soup, it works well too. If you are residing outside Nigeria where you cant get Shoko or Tete (green leaf), you can as well use English spinach or kale to prepare efo riro.

Additionally, if you are using the efo Tete (green amaranth) to make your efo riro, you may consider soaking the leaves in warm water for just 1 minute before shredding them, as this particular green vegetable comes with a very raw or loud scent. This will help slow down the loud smell, but if you dont mind the raw smell of this vegetable, there will be no need to soak it; all you need to do is to rinse the leaves in salted water to remove excess sand and tiny dirt before shredding. Also if you want to retain the green colour of the vegetable while cooking efo riro, it is best you use warm water and not hot water to wash it and also make sure the vegetable is added to the bubbling soup as the last ingredients and should not be left to sit for too long on heat.

Table of Contents

Efo riro soup ingredients

1/2 kg of assorted meat (beef, cow tripe)
kpomo (cow hide)
Pieces of dried fish
1 medium size stock fish
400g efo Tete or efo shoko (spinach, green amaranth)
7 pieces of red bell peppers( tatashe or shombo)
1 big red onion
2 table spoons of ground crayfish
1 table spoon of locust beans (iru)
2 cooking spoons of palm oil
2 seasoning cubes
4 pieces of scotch bonnet peppers
Salt to taste

Ingredients for cooking of efo riro soup

Procedures for making Efo Riro (Vegetable Soup)

Wash meat and season it with pepper, onions, 1 seasoning cube and salt and place on a medium heat.
Add stockfish to the meat and cook them all at once until they become tender.
While the meat is still on the heat, wash and blend tomatoes, tatashe and peper into a chunky consistency, if you are using both and keep aside.
Add more water to the meat and cook, if the initial water is not enough, once it is almost cooked, add dried fish and cook too.
Pick the vegetables you want to use for efo riro from the stalks and dress it properly. Soak the vegetable in warm water for 1 minute and then shred into smaller pieces and set aside.
When the meat is perfectly cooked, place another dried pot on heat, add 2 cooking spoons of palm oil to it and leave it bleach for 15 seconds.
Add chopped onions to the oil, stir for 1 minute, once the onions has become translucent, add the blended tomato mix to the oil and fry for 10 minutes, until it turns dry.
Bring the meat broth into the tomato and bring to a boil, add the locust beans (iru), crayfish, the remaining seasoning cube, salt and stir. Cover the lid to simmer on a low heat 10 for minutes.
Bring the cooked meat into the content and stir very well to combine, then taste for salt and seasoning and adjust if need be.
Add the chopped vegetable and stir the soup very well, leave it to simmer for 1 minute on a low heat.
Put off heat and serve your tasty efo riro with eba, semolina or pounded yam and enjoy.

Easy step to make efo riro (vegetable soup) with pictures

1. Wash meat and season it with pepper, onions, 1 seasoning cube and salt and place on a medium heat.

2. Add stockfish to the meat and cook them all at once until they become tender. I have already cooked the meat since yesterday

Assorted meat for efo riro

3. While the meat is still on the heat, wash and blend tomatoes, tatashe and pepers into a chunky consistency, if you are using both, then cook it on a medium heat for the liquid to reduce.

4. Add more water to the meat and cook, if the initial water is not enough, once it is almost cooked, add dried fish and cook too.

Leaves for making efo riro- these vegetables are called green amaranth (efo Tete, alehu or green),

5. Pick the vegetables you want to use for efo riro from the stalks and dress it properly. Soak the vegetable in warm water for 1 minute and then shred into smaller pieces and set aside.

Cooking process of blended tatashe (bell peppers), you can use both tomatoes and bell peppers if you want.

At this point, all the soup ingredients have been properly dressed and kept aside

6. When the meat is perfectly cooked, place another dried pot on heat, add 2 cooking spoons of palm oil to it, and leave it bleach for 15 seconds.

7. Add chopped onions to the oil, stir for 1 minute, once the onions has become translucent, add the blended tomato mix to the oil and fry for 10 minutes, until it turns dry.

8. Bring the meat broth into the tomato on heat and bring to a boil, add the locust beans (iru), crayfish, the remaining seasoning cube, salt and stir. Cover the lid to simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.