I was trying to choose between making Middle Eastern bamya and Balkan bamija, when a bowl of okra soup flashed before my eyes (thank you Holy Spirit) and I remembered that I was Nigerian. How could I have forgotten one of our national dishes?!!!
Thankfully, I was able to transform this traditionally meat-filled soup into a satisfying and hearty vegan one with the help of Youtube and my mother’s suggestions. Uziza seeds and the addition of red palm oil further developed the authentic flavors that traditionally come from okporoko, crayfish powder and other assorted meats.
I made some swallow as well. Swallow is the umbrella English word Nigerians use for the variety of fufu that is typically eaten with our soups. In my case, green plantain replaced my usual garri swallow.
I know I just shared many things you’ve never heard of before but, consider it an education for both of us since this is my first time making any Nigerian soup. Ever. I don’t know how I missed the summons when my mom was teaching but we’re here now.
Lt’s get to cooking:
- Start by chopping one large purple onion into small pieces.
- In a medium sized pot, add two handfuls of dried shiitake mushrooms to 2 cups of water along with 1/3 of the onions. Add 1 tsp each of chicken seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Also add 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of Vietnamese mushroom seasoning and half a scotch bonnet pepper. You’re making a deeply flavorful broth so turn the heat to low and simmer until the onions and mushrooms are soft and the water turns dark and rich. Please taste it as it cooks and decide if it needs more seasoning.
- Select 16 – 20 pods of okra and chop into small pieces. Grind 1/3 of the chopped okra in a little water until it looks gloopy and mucilaginous. This will be used to thicken the soup later. Set the ground okra and the remaining chopped okra aside.
- Rough blend two red bell peppers (I used 1 orange bell pepper and 1 small tomato because that’s what I had on hand. Tomato is not traditionally used to make okra soup but this addition didn’t impact the flavor at all), one medium sized jalapeño pepper (also not traditional but I wanted to get rid of it), a small handful of uziza seeds (see picture below; Uziza is West African peppercorn. It DOES NOT taste like American peppercorn so please, no substitutions), the other half of the scotch bonnet and the second 1/3 of the onions. The result should be chunky, not smooth.
- Back to the broth. Turn off the stove and with a slotted spoon or sieve, scoop out the mushroom and onions from the broth. Set both aside.
- Add a tablespoon of unrefined red palm oil to another medium sized pot. Add the last of the onions and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper blend and continue to cook. Here, I added two pinches (about 1/8 teaspoon) of the chicken seasoning and one pinch of salt.
- Cook down this bell pepper mix until it looks like this:
- Add the cooked mushrooms and onions that you separated out from the broth. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the broth and stir well. Then add the blended okra and mix VERY well. For more mucilage, use less broth.
- Let that cook for 7 – 10 minutes on low to medium heat until the the soup draws (ilo-alo) as we say. This refers to the mucilaginous nature of the okra now full incorporated into the soup, thus making it stretchy, if you will.
- Add your chopped okra and mix well into the soup. (You’re almost done!)
- Cook for 3 – 4 minutes. Top the dish with frozen spinach (a substitute for the traditional uziza and ugu leaves) but do not stir in. Cover the pot and let the spinach wilt.
- Once it wilts, stir into the soup well, turn off the stove and cover the pot. You can even move the pot to another burner at this point. The residual heat will cook the chopped okra while maintaining a little bite/crunch—which is how we like it. We don’t believe in serving lifeless okra. 🙂
- Serve with your choice of swallow – fufu, amala, whatever. I was going to make teff and oatmeal swallow but while driving, I suddenly got the idea for green plantain fufu (thank you Holy Spirit). Plantain fufu is easy to make but since this post is already long enough, allow me to direct you to someone else’s instructions here.
- Enjoyyy!!!!
A special thank you to Sisi Jemimah’s Recipes and SisiYemmieTV for their okra soup videos.
1/9/2022 Edit: I froze some of this soup and 2+ months later, it’s even better. Also, my mom sent me garri so I’m enjoying small small.