Oha Soup Recipe: How To Prepare Delicious Oha Soup with Ofor/Ukpo (Ibaba)

Oha soup recipe has always been one of my favourite vegetable soups, it is very simple to prepare, and it is moderately thickened with ofor, upko, (ibaba) or with achi, and most times, oha soup is thickened with cocoyam paste. Oha soup is usually prepared with assorted meat including stockfish and palm oil, and it is a very rich soup which one would love to eat over and over without getting bored of. Oha soup has a very spicy taste and fresh aroma which is mostly gotten from the meat, oha leaves and some local ingredients like opkei, ogidi and crayfish areanother seasonings that makeoha soup very tasty among other seasonings, you can use any local ingredients at you reach to prepare oha soup.

A bunch of oha leaves

Oha soup isalso known as efere Nkpa by calabar people, it is a special and tasty delicacy known popularly bythe south eastern parts of Nigeria (Igbos). Oha leaf is a seedless vegetable known as”African rose wood leaf” in english; it is usually prepared by slicing or cutting the young leaves into two equal parts after removing them from the stalks. (It is not advisable to cut oha leaves into tiny pieces with a knife- this is to prevent the leaves from being too soft and also to prevent the change in coloration when cooked, however, the leaves are usually cut into two parts with the use of both hands). Oha soup is a rich nutritious dish which should be included in one’s menu because it might just turn out to be ones favourite soup .

This delicious soup could either be prepared with palm oil or palm fruit extract which gives it the irresistible colour and aroma and it can be thickened with either achi, Ofor (ibaba) or cocoyam to achieve its different taste. Goat meat is also great for oha soup, since it adds a gamy flavour to the soup.

Table of Contents

Ingredients for the preparation of oha soup

500g Assorted meat, beef or goat
1 Big bunch oha leaves,
8 Seeds uziza seeds,
4 cup palm fruitsfruits, You can use palm oil as a substitute
3 Tablespoons ground ofor, upkor (ibaba)
1 Stock fish, 1 medium size
4 Medium sized dried fish
3 Table spoons ground crayfish
Fresh Pepper(as desired)
3 Seasoning cubes
Traditional ingredients to taste (ogiri, dadawa or okpei)
Periwinkles (optional)
Salt to taste.

Just before the preparation of the Oha Soup

Wash, season and boil meat, ganda or pkomo, stock fish for about 30minutes.
Plug Oha leaves from the stalks, cut all the leaves with hand into two equal partsbefore washing leaves and then keep aside (this makes it easier to handle, because the leaves are very soft and tender and again cutting it with knife could cause change in colouration, it is best to use hand for this).

Already prepared oha leaves

3. Boil palm fruit to become soft, and filter it. (seehow to prepare spicy abak atama ).

4. If you are going to use cocoyam, wash boil, peel and pound with mortar and pestle. I used palm oil; I didnt have to carry out this process. (see also how to prepare Bitter leaf soup with cocoyam); On the other hand, if you are going to use ukpor (ibaba) get it set.

Upkor (ibaba) thickener

5. Grind crayfish, uziza seeds, pepper, and traditional ingredients and keep them aside for later use.

Procedures on how to prepare oha soup

Pour the palm fruit extract into the boiled meat, or just add water to the meat if you are not using palm fruit extract and add palm oil to the content.
Add the ufor, upkor or cocoyam paste (thickener) into the content and allow to dissolves completely. depending on the thickener you are using.
When the thickener has dissolved, add crayfish, pepper, oziza seed, and dressed dried fish, seasoning cubes and all other ingredients and leave to boil for about10 minutes on a medium heat.
Add Oha leaves, stir, taste for seasoningand leave the soup to simmer on a heat for 3-5minutes.
Put off heat and serve with semolina, eba, tuwo or fufu.

Steps on how to make oha soup

After your meat is cooked, add more water to the meat, about 1 cup of water, add the thickener to the ccontent before it starts to boil.

Goat meat should be seasoned with onions, pepper, salt and cooked until very soft

2. When the thickener is dissolved, add crayfish and every other seasoning to the soup

Thickener dissolving in the soup

Oha soup in a pot

3. After adding all the mentioned ingredients, allow the soup to bubble for 10 minutes on a medium heat

4. Add oha leaves,stir and have a taste of it, if the soup needs more seasoning, make sure you adjust and if your oha soup looks very thick, you can add a little water to it while it sits on the stove for a while.