Buka stew is a Nigerian fried pepper stew made with bleached palm oil and assorted meat, it is a popular Yoruba stew recipe (Yoruba pepper stew) that you will love to prepare over and over after eating it once. Buka stew has a unique and savoury taste and it is very different from our usual fried stew. Buka stew is one of the simplest stew recipes that doesnt require much ingredients and it is commonly made majorly with peppers and tomatoes; the proportion of pepper in buka stew is always more than the tomato, unlike other stew recipes such as beef stew and chicken stew which require much tomatoes. also see how to make Ofada stew, it is also asimple and delcious like buka stew.
Buka stew goes well with ewedu soup, (amala and ewedu), okra soup, boiled yam and plantain, in fact, it is versatile hence you can easily pair it with any starchy bolus.
If you want to achieve the authentic flavour of Yoruba buka stew cook your buka stew from start to finish without covering the pot and also make use of bleach palm oil to prepare the stew, other oil are not allowed for this particular stew recipe. However, buka stew doesnt need much seasoning like ginger, curry, garlic, thyme and nutmeg which are the necessary additives in our popular stew dishes, all you just need are salt, onions and bouillon cubes to season the stew.
Another important ingredient in buka stew is the meat, basically, this stew is prepared with assorted meat, personally, I recommend goat meat, you can combine goat meat with beef shaki and kpomo for this stew so that you will end up with a rich pot of meaty buka stew (assorted meat buka stew).
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Best tips on how to make buka stew
- Work with few seasonings: For a traditional buka stew, no extra spices are required except salt and seasoning cubes, these are the few seasonings that are needed for the stew to taste amazing.
- One important tip for cooking buka stew is simply the ratio of tatashe (bell peppers), rodo (scotch bonnet) onions and tomatoes, like I have mentioned earlier, buka stew is not like the usual stew we make everyday using equal amounts of bell peppers and tomatoes such as this fish stew. It is actually a pepper-based stew, so in this case, you have to use much peppers as your base, but keep the tomato simple.
- If you want to achieve the authentic flavour of Yoruba buka stew, cook your buka stew from start to finish with the pot open. Covering it causes condensation, which in turn affects the authentic flavour of buka stew.
- Dont use any other oil apart from palm oil, it will affect the authentic aroma and taste of buka stew.
- Make use of different meat to prepare buka stew, goat meat adds unique smoky flavor to this stew, combine it with other parts of meat you like.
- If you are the type that dont really like peppery food, keep it simple and stay save, you can take some of the seeds from the bell pepper and add few number of habanero peppers the way you want
- Season the meat properly and add enough water to extract delicious stock, the stock will be added to the buka stew later to enhance the flavor. However, you can use grilled meat instead of having to fry your meat from scratch.
- Buka stew is prepared with bleached palm oil: to bleach the palm oil, pour the oil into a pot, cover the pot and set it on medium heat for 10- 15 minutes, leave the pot and the oil to cool without opening it to prevent smoke or so that you dont get choked due to smoky oil. You will place the pot back on heat once you are ready to fry the meat.
Buka stew ingredients
- 5 red tomatoes
- 10 large red bell peppers (Tatashe)
- 3 cups of palm oil
- 4 Scotch bonnet/habanero peppers (Ata rodo)
- 2 medium onions
- 1 cup of beef stock in place of water
- 1kg of assorted Fried Meat – grilled meat can be used
- 3 Seasoning cubes
- Salt to taste
Buka stew ingredients are very simple, don
Steps on How to Prepare Buka Stew
- Season meat with salt, pepper, maggi and onions and cook on high heat, add enough seasonings to taste.
- Add 2 cups of water to the meat, cook until it turns out very soft, and then separate it from the stock.
- Combine tomato, bell peppers and onions in a blender, puree for few minutes, and set aside.
- Place a wide pot on medium heat and add palm oil into it, place a tight cover over the pot and bleach for 10 minutes without opening.
- Put off the gas and wait for 10 minutes for the oil to cool down before opening it to prevent kitchen accident.
- At this point, the oil has cool completely, open the pot and place the oil back on medium heat. Add the cooked meat to the oil and fry, then remove, and keep aside. Scoop some oil out if it appears too much, you can add it back if it is needed.
- Add chop onions the oil and fry for 30 seconds, followed by the blended pepper and, tomato. I didnt add water to blend the pepper mix so there is no need of cooking it before frying. If you have added water to yours, just strain out excess water with a colander and you are good to go. Once you havefriedthe pepper mix, the taste will vanish if at all there is. This is done without covering the pot.See how to fry tomato stew here.
- Cook the stew for 15 minutes on high heat until the water reduces. At this stage you will notice the silky buka stew consistency, add the meat stock, seasoning cubes, salt and cook for another 10 minutes more until it starts to thicken. You can add about 3 tablespoons of the oil you scooped out earlier on if that is necessary.
- Return the fried meat to the stew, stir and add more seasoning and salt if needed. Cook the buka stew for another 5-10 minutes to intensify the flavour.
- Take the buka stew off from heat, serve it over boiled rice and enjoy.
Easy Steps to Prepare Buka Stew with Pictures
1. Season assorted meat with salt, pepper, maggi and onions and cook on high heat, add enough seasonings to taste.
2. Add 2 cups of water to the meat, cook until it turns out very soft, and then separate it from the stock and keep aside.
3. Combine tomatoes, bell peppers and onions in a blender, puree for few minutes, and set aside.
Blended pepper mix for making buka stew
4. Place a wide pot on medium heat and add palm oil into it, place a tight cover over the pot and bleach for 10 minutes without opening.
Use enough palm oil for the stew, you can scoop some out after the meat fried
5. Put off the gas and wait for 10 minutes for the oil to cool down before opening it to prevent kitchen accident.
This is what the bleached palm oil should like after 10 minutes, transparent in colour
6. At this point, the oil has cool completely, open the pot and place the oil back on medium heat. Add the cooked meat to the oil and fry, then remove, and keep aside. Scoop some oil out if it appears too much, you can add it back if it is needed
Frying of assorted meat for buka stew
7. Add chop onions the oil and fry for 30 seconds, followed by the blended pepper and, tomato. I didnt add water to blend the pepper mix so there is no need of cooking it before frying. If you have added water to yours, just strain out excess water with a colander and you are good to go. Once you have friedthe pepper mix, the taste will vanish if at all there is.This is done without covering the pot.
Onion is very important too in buka stew; most people add everything to blend, i had to leave some behind so that i can fry it in the oil before adding in the pepper mix, it intensifies the flavour of the stew
8. Cook the stew for 15 minutes on high heat until the water reduces. At this stage you will notice the silky buka stew consistency, add the meat stock, seasoning cubes, salt and cook for another 10 minutes more until it starts to thicken. You can add about 3 tablespoons of the oil you scooped out earlier on if that is necessary.
the pepper mix has cooked longer enough in the oil and it has reduced to the level i want, i can now add the meat stock i extracted.
After adding the meat stock continue cooking the buka stew, you will notice patches of oil floating to the top, which means you are almost done
9. Return the fried meat to the stew, stir and add more seasoning and salt if needed. Cook the buka stew for another 5- 10 minutes to intensify the flavour.
Now, return the fried meat to the stew and cook it for another 5- 10 minutes on low heat before you take it off. You can add more of the bleached palm oil to it if you like
10. Take the buka stew off from heat, serve it over boiled rice and enjoy.
Authentic buka stew is ready once all the ingredients have incorporated.
Delicious buka stew
Buka stew is served with boiled rice. Enjoy your meal