Ok I told myself I am up to the challange and said to myself this German chick is going to tackle efo riro wich is one of the Nigerian soups as of last night that I really admit I enjoy making. Again I drew my inspiration from my various pins I have on this recipe and it can be made lots of differnt ways.
The protein options are: lamb, goat, veal, tripe, oxtail, beef, any type of fish except buffalo and butterfish for the reason why that It is too soft and it is full of fine bones and so therefore it is made for frying only. The buffalo and butterfish are not made for this recipe at all so don’t add. Chicken and turkey and smoked turkey can be added too. Shell fish like, crab shrimp, lobster, oysters, mussels and clams can be used too. Also, last but not least cow’s and goat’s or lamb’s tongue.
The choice of green leafy vegetables I recomend are ugu which are pumpkin leaves. I got them dried from an African store. They are also frozen sweet potato greens, frozen spinach, 1 bunch of kale,turnip, and red and white swiss chard. If you are using fresh greens pick them, place them in a colander then add 1 drop of dish soap and wash and rinse them very well making sure you get all of the dergent out of it. If you add turnip greens, please be sure to add 1 pinch of tubinado sugar to take the bitterness out.
I have no need to say sorry when this is a proven effective method to wash greens as I had described in an earlier blog post. Also this it the picture of the soup as it was cooking when it was nearly done. As soon as they are clean they can be ripped or cut in to tiny pieces. If using frozen or dried skip this step.
The rest is all gravy from here and it is so simple to do.
I put the hardest pieces of meat that takes the longest to cook in my pressure cooker. I used tripe and smoked turkey for this one. I used 2 pinches of kosher salt, 3 capfuls of white vinegar in a huge bowl full of water to wash the tripe and I rinsed it say about 4 times and then added 1 pinch of baking soda and rinsed it 4 or 5 more times and placed it in the pressure cooker with some smoked turkey. I used a wing and really it does not matter which part of the bird you use but however if you use a leg then you can bake it in a roasting pan full of water at 350F or 180C and you can also add cow’s and goat’s or lamb’s tongue if using and add 1 liter or 1 quart of water with the lid on for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until done.
The pressure cooker method for the tripe and smoked turkey part I used this time which is a wing and it really doesn’t matter in 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water that I seasoned with 1 bullion cube, half an onion or shallot, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma and 1 bullion cube. after the safety button popped up I turned on the timer for 30 minutes with the pressure cooker being on high heat. When time was up, I turned off the stove and let the pressure escape.
If you are using the turkey leg and have added tongue to the roasting pan at the end of their cooking time take it out if the meat is soft then you can take the skin off of the cow’s tongue. The skin will come off very easy on a throughly cooked cow’s tongue. Save the stock in either case because you need it for the soup and the turkey leg you have to take the meat right off of the bone and done right it would fall right off too because it is so nice and tender.
I checked the tripe this time when I opened the pressure cooker and it was very soft this time so I did not have to do another 30 minutes. The smoked turkey wing was nice too.
I got out this pot and put 1 cookingspoon full of red palm oil in it and washed pieces of fish that I have wanted to add. This is so funny because there are many types of fish. I used catfish. I rinsed it and I let it fry in the palm oil until it turned opaque. Then I can add the rest of the seasoning because the stock has some of it in there already. There is no need to add another bullion cube because it would make the soup to salty.
I would make the pepper sauce from here using the other half of the onion, 1 habenero or scotch bonnet, 1 red bell pepper 2 cloves of garlic and one tomato. I blend these until it is a smooth puree and set it aside. This also becomes part of soup.
I added 1 pinch of dawadawa and or curry powder, crayfish. Boni bonga fish powder and smoked dried shrimp can be used too (optional). They can be purchesed at Old World Market if you live here in Chicago. If you live elsewhere check the Africa Chop site for one African store near you.
I added the blended pepper paste and 2 tbs of tomato paste (optional) and stirred very well. I added the tripe and smoked turkey that I had pressure cooked to the soup because the stock with more seasoning is there. If you use the tongue like from cow, just make sure you peel and slice it then cut the meat from the turkey bone and add it to the soup. Throw the skin from the cow’s tonge and the bone away because it is inedable. Add the stock and the vegetables that you are using. You can use any from the list that I had mentioned, I have chosen ugu and frozen spinach.
I cooked the soup for another 20 minutes after adding these and then I decided to make me some fufu because I was hungry. I think I really nailed it as a first timer.
I added 1 tsp of soup thickener of choice then cooked for 5 more minutes and shut off the heat.
This is the reason why I am blogging about my first time effort because it looks and it tastes so good. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.
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