Ayamase Stew Recipe: How to Make Ayamase Stew |Designer Stew (Ofada Stew)

Ayamase stew/sauce or ofada stew as commonly referred to as designer stew, it is a popular native stew in Nigeria prepared with green peppers and assorted meat . This delicious stew is a great accompaniments to white rice, boiled yam and most importantly it is usually served over ofada rice which is the unpolished brown rice (a type of brown rice grown in Nigeria). Apart from serving Ayamase stew with ofada rice, fried plantain or yam can be used instead.

One of the key ingredients in Ayamase stew is the fermented locust beans (Dawadawa), this traditional spice has a nutty flavor which is what contributes to the deliciousness of this stew. However, bleached palm oil serves as the base for this stew recipe, the palm oil is used for frying the meat and the veggies and it leaves a unique fragrance in the sauce as well. Above is video on how I prepare ayamase stew (Ofada stew) watch it to the end and also see how to make red ofada stew here.

Tips for preparing the best Ofada stew/ sauce

• When preparing Ayamase stew, you have to be very careful while bleaching the palm oil as it can easily catch fire (palm oil is highly flammable when heated).
• Be sure to bleach the oil on low heat with the lid covered and it shouldnt sit more than 5 minutes. You will also need to open the doors and window of your house to allow ventilation while on this process.
• Once the oil is bleached to your liking, put off the heat and wait for the oil to cool down first before you open the lid to add the needed ingredients.
• When the oil has cool, place it back on heat and add the required ingredients to fry. This is just a simple way to make this sauce with the bleached palm oil.
• Ofada stew is usually prepared with green peppers, but I decided to include few red bell peppers to mine. Its a matter of preference.
• Before you blend the peppers, take a little time to remove some of the seeds first to avoid too hot and spicy afada stew especially if you are the type that cant cope with spicy and hush food.
• Iru or locust bean is an important ingredient in ofada stew (ayamase), make sure you add it to this stew for that unique flavour.
• You can choose not to add crayfish to this sauce if you want, but if you must do, add just a little quantity because its supposed to be mild and not intense, so that it wont overpower the taste of other ingredients. Boiled eggs are optional; you can still prepare ofada stew without them.

Ayamase Stew Ingredients

1. 6 large green bell peppers(green Tatashe)
2. 10 green chilli peppers, deseeded
3. 2 medium redonions, thinly chopped
4. 3 green scotch bonnetpeppers(Ata Rodo)
5. 1 kilo of assorted meat (goat meat, beef shaki and chicken)
6. boiledeggs, as desired
7. 4 Tablespoons locust beans(Iru, dawadawa)
8. 1 cuppalm oil
9. 1 tablespoon of ground crayfish
10. 1 cup of stockfish or dried/smoked fish
11. 2-3 seasoning cubes(maggi)
12. Saltto taste
13. Ginger and garlic to taste, optional

Ingredients for making ayamase stew

Steps on how to make Ayamase stew (ofada stew)

1. Add onions, pepper, maggi, and salt to the assorted and cook until tender. Set aside.
2. Combine all the peppers, onions into the blender with a little water and blend into a chunky consistency.
3. Pour the pepper mix into strainer to remove excess liquid, this will save a lot of time, however, you can simply boil this in a pot until the water dries.
4. Add palm oil into a stainless steel pot, cover the lid and place on heat to bleach on low heat for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, put off heat and let the oil cool completely before you open the pot. The palm oil must not turn black, once you notice a clear texture, that should be fine.
5. Add the cooked meat into the oil and fry until golden and then remove from the oil and set aside.
6. After taking out the meat, add ginger, garlic, chopped onion and locust beans and stir fry for 1 minute or until translucent and you could perceive a sweet aroma.
7. Bring the pepper mix into the oil and stir-fry until it is soft and you notice patches of oil at the top, this should take about 10 minutes.
8. At this point, the pepper may have absorbed all the oil, you can add 1 cup of the meat stock to it instead of adding extra oil.
9. Once the stew has come to a boil, season it with some seasoning cubes, 1 tablespoon of ground crayfish, stir, and then cover to cook gently for 5 minutes more.
10. If the sauce appears too thick, add a little water more meat stock and stir to combine, if you have a very rich broth, you wont need much of the seasoning cubes so that your sauce dont turn out salty at the end. Let this boil for a while. Bring inthe fried meat and the smoked fish and stir to combine.
11. Add the boiled eggs, stir and taste for salt and adjust if need be, then put off heat; Ayamase stew is ready.
12. Serve ayamase stew/ ofada sauce with boiled ofada rice or regular white rice and enjoy your meal.

How to prepare Ayamase stew (ofada stew) with pictures

1. Add onions, pepper, maggi, and salt to the assorted and cook until tender. Set aside.

2. Combine all the peppers, onions into the blender with a little water and blend into a chunky consistency.

Pepper mix for ayamase stew

3. Poor the pepper mix into strainer to remove excess liquid, this will save a lot of time, however, you can simply boil this in a pot until the water dries.

You can choose to strain the pepper in a colander or boil it in a pot for a while for the liquid to reduce

4. Add palm oil into a stainless steel pot, cover the lid and place on heat to bleach on low heat for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, put off heat and let the oil cool completely before you open the pot. The palm oil must not turn black, once you notice a clear texture, that should be fine.

Bleached palm oil for Ayamase stew

5. Add the cooked meat into the oil and fry until golden and then remove from the oil and set aside.

Frying of assorted meat for ayamase stew

6. After taking out the meat, add ginger, garlic, chopped onion and locust beans and stir fry for 1 minute or until translucent and you could perceive a sweet aroma.

Stir fry the spices for 1 minutes or until fragrant

7. Bring the pepper mix into the oil and stir-fry until it is soft and you notice patches of oil at the top, this should take about 10 minutes.

Stir the sauce from time to time as it cooks to prevent from burning

Cook this until the pepper turns out very soft

8.At this point, the pepper may have absorbed all the oil, you can add 1 cup of the meat stock to it instead of adding extra oil.

if you don

9. Once the stew has come to a boil, season it with some seasoning cubes, 1 tablespoon of ground crayfish, stir, and then cover to cook gently for 5 minutes more.

10. If the sauce appears too thick, add a little water more meat stock and stir to combine, if you have a very rich broth, you wont need much of the seasoning cubes so that your sauce dont turn out salty at the end. Let this boil for a while. Bring inthe fried meat and the smoked fish and stir to combine.

The smoked fish is added towards the end of the cooking , this is to prevent it form scattering into the stew during the stirring process

11. Add the boiled eggs, stir and taste for salt and adjust if need be, then put off heat; Ayamase stew is ready.

You may choose not to add eggs in you ayamase stew if you don’t mind

12. Serve ayamase stew/ofada sauce with boiled ofada rice or regular white rice and enjoy your meal.

Delicious ayamase stew (ofada stew recipe)

Ayamase stew recipe a.k.a ofada stew

Ayamase stew served with white boiled rice

Picture of Ofada stew (ayaamse stew)