How to prepare Ogbono soup

Ogbono soup is a slimy Nigerian soup made from ogbono seeds. It is also referred to as draw soup and it can be prepared with or without vegetables.

Ingredients

·         Assorted meat and fish

·         2 handfuls of ogbono seeds

·         3 cooking spoons of palm oil

·         Vegetable (any of your choice: ugwu, scent leaves, bitter leaves)

·         1 spoonful of crayfish powder

·         1 medium-sized onion

·         2 stock cubes

·         Pepper and salt (to taste)

Pre-cooking steps

1.       Grind the ogbono into powdered form

2.       Wash and chop the vegetables

3.       Cook the assorted meat and fish

4.       Grind the pepper

5.       Boil some water

Cooking steps

Pour the palm oil into a clean dry stainless steel or aluminium pot. Set on the fire and melt the oil with low heat. Remember, only melt the oil, do not allow it to start evaporating or get smoky.Once melted, turn off the heat and add the ground Ogbono.Use your cooking spoon to dissolve the Ogbono in the oil.When all the Ogbono powder has completely mixed with the oil, add the meat/fish stock (water from cooking the assorted meat and fish). Set the heat of your cooker to low and start stirring. You will notice the Ogbono start to thicken and draw.Keep stirring till the Ogbono has completely absorbed the meat stock.Add a small quantity of the hot water and stir till the Ogbono has absorbed all the water. Repeat this process till you get a consistency that is satisfactory.Make sure that the heat is low, cover the pot and start cooking. Once it starts to simmer, stir every 2-3 minutes for 20 minutes. 
The next thing to do is; every 3 minutes or so, open the pot, stir very well, scrape the Ogbono that sticks to the base of the pot, cover the pot and cook for another 3 minutes.After 20 minutes, the Ogbono should be well cooked and you will begin to perceive its nice flavour and aroma.Add the assorted meat and fish, ground crayfish, salt and pepper to taste. The Ogbono may have become thicker from the cooking. If so, add a little bit more water and stir very well. Cover and cook till the contents of the pot is well heated up.If you prefer your Ogbono Soup without vegetables, turn off the heat and serve but if you like to add a vegetable then keep reading :)When the content of the pot is heated up, add the vegetable (of your choice). Stir very well, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Leave to stand for about 5 minutes and serve with any okele (wheat, ground rice, fufu, semo, amala, eba, pounded yam etc).

Serve the soup with any “okele” of your choice. Although, most people prefer it with eba.