Oge Akwu is an Igbo native stew served with white Rice and boiled Yam and enjoyed by Ndigbo at home and abroad. It is traditionally prepared with fresh palm nuts and others use tin processed palm nuts.
Ingredients:
- Fresh palm fruits or 800g tinned palm fruit concentrate
- 1kg of beef cut into medium sizes.
- 3 pieces of dried fish (mangala)
- Scent leaves
- I red onion
- 1 handful crayfish
- Habanero pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 small piece of Ogiri Okpei
- Seasoning cubes
Preparation:
- Wash and boil the fresh palm nuts for about 20 mins. Pound the boiled palm nuts to expose the rich oil fibres. Add hot water to the pounded nuts and extract the juice with a sieve and set aside
- Cook the meat with seasoning until it’s soft. If you prefer, you can grill the meat in the oven after seasoning and then set aside.
- Blend or grind other spices, including pepper.
- Remove the centre bone of the dry fish and wash with hot water.
Cooking:
- Pour the palm nut juice in the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes till it becomes thick and then add the meat sauce.
- If you are using processed tin juice, simmer it with the meat sauce.
- Add the dried fish, grounded crayfish mix, precooked meat, ground pepper and salt and seasonings to taste.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Add fresh or dried scent leaves, and add more seasonings as necessary
- Simmer for another 2 minutes and your Ofe Akwu is ready
