SOUP RECIPES (OFE ACHARA OR ACHARA SOUP)

SOUP RECIPES  (OFE ACHARA OR ACHARA SOUP)
Achara soup is very delicious and tasty. It is very rich and has nutritional value. This soup is indigenous to the people of Umuahia, Abia State (South-Eastern Nigeria), however, you must not come from this town before you enjoy this soup. It’s extremely delicious and definitely adaptable to any palette.

INGREDIENTS
- 1kg Beef
- 1 medium size Stockfish (Okporoko)

-  Snails
- Dry fish (ike azu mbasa or mangala)
- 2 medium bunch Achara
-  Shredded Okazi leaves – fresh or dry

- 2 cups of Egusi (melon)

- 1 or 2 tablespoons of Usu – white chalk like substance NOT Potash
- 2 tablespoons Achi (ground)
- 1½ tablespoons Dried pepper (ground)
- 2 cooking spoons Palm oil
- 1 tablespoon Crayfish (ground)

- Periwinkle (Isam)                                           

- 2 stock cubes
-  Water
- Salt to taste.

Preparation of the soup

·        Cut the Achara leaves as normal and set aside, Boil your meat with a lot of stockfish and dry fish. You need to get a very rich stock out of boiling your meats because you should not have to add seasoning cubes and possibly salt when you start cooking the soup.

·        Making the Mgbam.  You can use traditional way by using a mortar and pestle or use your hand pour in the egusi in a sizeable bowl follow the same process when using a mortar.  Inside the mortar, add the ground egusi, ground Usu, you can blend the whole egusi seeds with usu, dry pepper/fresh pepper and salt. Start to pound with the pestle until the egusi gets compacted, then you add hot water. Roughly about 2 tablespoons. The hot water is to aid the release of  the natural oils from the egusi. Keep pounding until you begin to notice the egusi form into a dough-like paste. Keep pounding, and the egusi will become even more oily. When the mortar comes off clean, that means you are done.

·        Pour out the egusi in bowl and start molding, Squeeze portions of the dough in your palm and squeeze out the oil until the egusi dough starts to feel dry. Pinch the dough, flatten and manoeuvre with your thumb, index and middle finger into an oval shape. Repeat till you finish molding.

·        Fill a big pot half way, add palm oil and begin to boil. Drop in the mgbam I mean the egusi (melon) you just molded and let it boil until it turns completely white. This would take quite some time and you would need to top up the water again. You will know the mgbam has cooked completely when it is also white inside when you bite into it.

·        Take out the mgbam from the pot and transfer into another boiling pot containing assorted meats, shredded stockfish, isam, dry fish, palm oil and fresh pepper and achara (if you are using). This is a rich stock that forms the base of your soup. The flavour of the stock should have a deep robust flavour. If you are not quite there yet, add a tablespoon or 2 of ground crayfish, leave to boil for about 2 minutes and it should do the trick.

·        Allow the mgbam to boil in this stock for 5+minutes to absorb the flavours in the pot. Mix 1 tablespoon of crayfish with 1 tablespoon of achi powder. The crayfish is needed to prevent the achi from forming lumps. You only need a little achi to thicken the soup, because ofe okazi is not a thick soup at all.

·        Add the achi-crayfish mix to the pot and stir quickly. Leave it to cook  for about 5 – 7 minutes to thicken the soup. If you have never cooked with Achi before, a little caveat. It would look at first as if the soup is not getting any thicker. DO NOT be tempted to add more. That is a rookie's mistake, and you may end up with a thick globby mess, before you get the hang of it. Give it some time and the liquid stock you started with would get thicker and take on a pleasant light yellowish orange colour.

·        The last you will add is the shredded Okazi leaves to the pot, stir together allow it to boil up to 2-4minutes, take off the heat.

Serve the Achara soup with Amala, Elubo, Pounded yams, Fufu (akpu), Eba (garri) or Tuwo Shinkafa .