Owo Soup (Oghwo Ofigbo)
Photo: Randybloc, CC BY-SA 4.0
Owo soup is a southern Nigerian soup of goat or bush meat in a tomato, pepper and palm oil base. Its signature is potash, dissolved in hot water, strained and stirred in, which gives the soup a distinctive silky body. Dried fish and ground crayfish add a deep savory backbone. Stirring the palm oil in off the heat, a little at a time, keeps it glossy and well blended. Serve it with yam or plantain.
Instructions
Blend the tomatoes and fresh pepper together until you have a smooth paste. Wash the meat and the dried fish, using hot water for the fish, and chop the onion.
Put the meat in a pot with the onion, a seasoning cube and salt. Cook it for about 3 minutes, letting it stew in its own juices.
Pour in enough water to cover the meat and simmer until the meat is tender when you press or pierce it.
Add the dried fish, the tomato and pepper paste and the ground crayfish, then stir in about a cup of water. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often so the base does not catch and burn.
Grind the potash to a fine powder and dissolve it in 4 tablespoons of hot water. Strain the liquid carefully to leave the sediment behind, then stir the liquid into the soup.
Take the pot off the heat and let the soup cool for about 10 minutes.
Place the pot back on the heat and stir in the palm oil gradually, a little at a time. Remove from the heat and serve with plantains, yam or any swallow you like.
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