YAM RECIPES (ASARO)

YAM RECIPES (ASARO)

Asaro, also known as Ebe (pronounced eh-beh) is a native meal to the Yorubas. It is very similar to Ikokore in the sense that it is yam, cooked in a mix of blended peppers. The only difference is that Ikokore uses water yam while Asaro uses regular yam.
It’s a one pot meal and doesn’t take too long to prepare.

Ingredients
1 m tuber of yam
1 large red bell pepper
1 m red onion
2 cloves garlic

Ginger (same size as 2 garlic cloves)
3 plum tomatoes (or 1 m/l regular tomato)
3 scotch bonnet peppers
Handful kpanla or stock fish (boil to soften)
1 tbsp Adobo seasoning
1 tsbp Curry powder
2 stock cubes
2 bay leaves
3-4 cups water
1/2 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup Palm oil

-         Rinse tuber of yam to rid it of dirt, sand etc. Cut into thick rounds and peel off the outer skin. Cut out any dark areas in the yam if there is any. Cut each round into cubes and in half, then cut each half into another half etc. Add cold water to a large bowl and rinse yam cubes. Drain and add more clean, cold water. Add cubed yam into cold water (to prevent yam from changing color).

-         Set aside for a few minutes. Heat pot over medium heat. Cut and blend red bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers, garlic and ginger. Add 3-4 cups water to blended mix. Add Canola and palm oil to pot. Add blended peppers etc. Cover and let boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.

                                                                                        

-         Add seasonings (stock cubes, curry, adobo, bay leaves). Stir, let boil for 5 minutes still over medium heat. Add cubed yam (careful, so pepper doesn’t splash; reduce heat if necessary). Drain kpanla (if soaked in water) and add to boiling pepper.

-         (If you reduced heat, turn it back up to medium.)

-          Stir and let cook for 20-25 minutes or till yam is fork tender. Once soft, use a potato masher to mash, or the back of a serving spoon or a fork. Mash and stir. You can choose not to mash everything, leaving some chunks. That depends on your choice.

-         Turn off heat. 

-         Serve while hot with meat of your choice.

YAM RECIPES (YAM PEPPER SOUP OR JI MMIRI OKU)

YAM RECIPES (YAM PEPPER SOUP  OR  JI MMIRI OKU)

 

Pepper soup yam, traditionally, is  cooked with fresh fish, stock fish, dry fish or any type of seafood. This dish is bound to get people asking for more. Igbos normally cook it during their new yam festival. It's easy to make and also very tasty and delicious, especially when eaten with palm oil, sprinkled with a little bit of salt.

Ingredients.

. 1 Tuber of yam

• 2 Fresh or 1 tbsp. dry pepper   

• 1 medium sized Red onion (chopped/ blended)     

• Smoked panla fish

• 1 Dried local Catfish                                                       

• 2 tsp. Cray fish

• 1/2 cup Palm Oil

• 2 Seasoning Cubes

• Salt to taste

• A handful Scent leaves 

• 3 Uziza leaves - Optional

• 5 sticks Uda Uentia (xylopia aethiopica) “Negro pepper"

•Aridan “tetrapleura tetraptera “prekese (optional)

  

Directions

-          Chop off a small chunk of the Aridan, pound or grind with a dry mill and set aside

-          Wash the cat fish and Smoked panla fish thoroughly. Remove the bones, rinse and set aside.

-   To prepare the Uda a.k.a Negro pepper which are long dark pods with very bitter  seeds, hit the uda with something heavy and open up the pods; remove and discard the sticky black seeds in it. In an open flame, roast the pods and then set aside. 
                                                                                           

The Pods would be added whole while  cooking the pepper soup as it'd later be discarded once the cooking is done. Most times, it's commonly used in the preparation of pepper soups for nursing mothers, as it helps in cleansing the tummy.                              

   Slice the yam and peel off the brown skin. Rinse with clean water, chop into smaller chunks and place in a sizeable pot.

-           

     Add some onion, pepper, salt to taste and just enough water to cover the chunks of yam in the pot. Cook for about 10 mins till it starts to boil. Once you notice the water in the pot starts to bubble, add a tablespoon of palm oil, washed fish, crushed seasoning, uda, aridan, & crayfish. Stir and cover the pot, for 15 minutes more. The yam should be soft.

-         Turn off the burner and transfer the cooked yam into a different pot so it doesn't get soggy. When serving, dish out the yam and palm oil sprinkled with salt on a flat plate and the yam pepper soup in a different bowl. Serve Hot

YAM RECIPES (IKOKORE)

YAM RECIPES (IKOKORE )

Ikokore  is very delicious and tasty. It is prepared with water yam and it is a favorite meal among the ljebu people, from Western Nigeria. It similar to Ekpang Kwukor. The difference is that it is not cooked with vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1 tuber of water yam
• Palm oil
• 2 stock cubes
• 3 tbsp. Crayfish
• Salt (to taste)
• Diced scotch bonnets
• 1 onion                                                             

• 1 red bell pepper
• Smoked fish, ponmo and prawns
• Dried tilapia fish
• Assorted meat
• Water to cook
• 2 tbsp. Aroma condiments

How to cook Ikokore

-         Peel the yam, Cut into medium sizes, wash thoroughly and grate into a clean bowl. Season with salt and set aside.

-         Pour the stock fish into a clean pot. Add blended pepper, fish, shaki, ponmo and prawns boil for 25 minutes. - In a blender, perfectly blend chopped onions, red pepper ball, scotch bonnets and set aside.

While the content of the pot is boiling, cut grated yam into the pot in balls (like you are frying tiny puffs)
If the consistency is too thick, add water.
                                                                        

Then add seasoning and taste for salt. Add more salt if needed, and then stir.
The food does not take much time to cook, so you can turn down the heat and add your palm oil.
Let the palm oil cook (the fresh taste disappears). Turn off the heat and serve

SOUP RECIPES (IBABA SOUP)

SOUP RECIPES (IBABA SOUP)

Ibaba soup is very delicious and tasty. This soup is mostly prepared by the Efiks. This is a slightly thickened and aromatic soup made by using self thickening ibaba seeds and Etinkirin / Uziza leaves -very indigenous to Efiks. 

Ingredients
1/2 kg  assorted meats (beef, oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto and bushmeat)
2 snails (washed with lemon)
225 g stockfish 
225 g  dry fish
50 g   ground ibaba seeds
1/2 medium onion                                           

 225 g  shredded etinkirin/uziza leaves
100 ml palm oil
112 g   ground crayfish
112 g  ground pepper
1/2 lt  pints stock /salt to taste
 
                                                     

 cooking Methods

-        Wash the meat thoroughly and place in a sizable pot.

-        Add some ground chillies, sliced onions and stock

-        Place on heat and cook for 40-50minutes till it become soft

-        Wash the smoked dry fish with salt and soak in boiling water or 7-10minutes to loosen any sand or grit

-        Rinse thoroughly with lots of water

-        Add the stock fish, dry fish and snails to the pot of meat and cook for 10 minutes.

-        Add the rest of the stock, bring to the boil, add the oil and ground ibaba seeds.

-        Stir thoroughly to slightly thicken

-        Lastly add the shredded etinkirin leaves and crayfish

-        Leave to simmer for 12-15minutes           

-        If too thick, adjust consistency by adding more stock as required.

-        It should lightly coat the back of a spoon

Serve  with Amala, Elubo, Pounded yam, Fufu (akpu), Eba (Garri) or Tuwo Shinkafa .