Good Food – Ounje Aladun

Edikang Ikong

May 15, 2018May 15, 2018Omolabake for #OunjeAladunLeave a comment

So i woke up to tend my vegetable garden, which i had left unattended for a about two weeks or a lil more. I wear many hat’s like many people and the month of April right to the first two weeks of May was very busy. First i got NAFDAC approval for my products FDVie Juice yaaay! Then we were vendors at the GTB Food and Drink fair , then renovation of the production facility , plus daily life!

So my garden was overgrown with Waterleaf! I remember my first attempt at planting waterleaf with seeds, i waited many months it didn’t yield until my staff told me to propagate using stems instead. Now the plant is in every pot in the garden, just dispersing its seeds. That means I’d be having a lot of waterleaf soups.

Freshly harvested waterleaf from my container garden

So after pulling out a lot of waterleaf yesterday, i made Edikang ikong

Recipe

Ingredients

800g washed and choppedWaterleaf

500g washed and chopped Ugu leaves

Assorted Meats

1 cooking spoon blended pepper mix (Scotch bonnet -ata rodo/Bawa)

3/4 cup palm oil

Stockfish

Smoked Fish

1 tbsp blended crayfish

Bouillon cubes

Salt to taste

Procedure

In a pot, season your meats with salt and bouillon cubes (to your taste) *Don’t* season with onion. Add water and cook till the meat is soft and tender. I usually cook my meats with smoked fish heads for rich flavour

When your meat is cooked and the water is properly reduced, add your blended pepper mix and palm oil.

Taste to see if it requires additional seasoning, if it does add some more. Add, stock fish, smoked fish, crayfish and cook till the water is reduced completely.

When the water is completely reduced and you can see the palmoil glistening on the meats, add chopped water leaves.

(Let your washed water leaf and Ugu leaves strain in a seive to allow all the excess water get away, your chopped leaves should be near dry)

Stir in properly , the water leaf will wilt into the pot, let it simmer for about 3 minutes

Next stir in your Ugu leaves, stir it in well till it incorporates well with the waterleaf.

Cook with lid off , on medium heat for an additional 8 – 10 minutes.

Serve hot with your preferred accompaniment.

Please don’t tell my Yoruba ancestors that i almost denounced Efo Riro in favour of this tasty pot of goodness that is native to the Efik people.

Corn on Cob with mashed Ube

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017Omolabake for #OunjeAladun1 Comment

This is just a simple twist to the Corn and Ube you love. CORN on COB in a Skewer rubbed with mashed Ube

It’s Corn season and with corn comes Ube. Ube is an oval shaped, purple berry with a large seed in the centre. It’s in season at about the same time as corn. As a street food, corn is either boiled or roasted and usually paired with Coconut or Ube.

Top-Bottom; Corn , Ube. Picture credit: Google.

Recipe

Corn
Ube
*Salted Butter (or Herb and Garlic butter)
*Pepper flakes

*optional items are marked with asterisk
Procedure

Dehusk the corn of it comes in a husk and cook the corn till done. Cook it in a pot with lid on

Ube is very easy to cook, just steam till the pod is soft and it would peel off easily. You can cook it by placing the Ube on the lid of the pot while the corn cooks.

Mash the Ube with salted butter ( Salted Butter is optional, I used garlic butter). Add some pepper flakes if you want some kick of heat.

Spread it on your cooked corn.

This is so comfort food!

Isi Ewu

October 7, 2015Omolabake for #OunjeAladun6 Comments

Busy as Lagos is, it has an interesting night life. After the stress of the hustle and bustle of the day, people seem to find a way to unwind after. Hence you’d find a lot of out door cool spots and night bars scattered across the metropolis of Lagos. The city is a sort of melting pot for people of different ethnicities and culture across Nigeria, thus you’d find the influence of different cultures in the cuisine.
Popular amongst them is Isi Ewu, Nkwobi, Point and Kill Pepper, Asun, Suya which feature prominently on the menus of most outdoor (indoor too) night bars and cool spots. There seems to be a sort of marriage with alcohol and spicy food, which might be responsible for there popularity.

I’d be sharing the recipe for Nkwobi and Isi Ewu in this post. The recipe for both is the same but for the meats used.
Nkwobi – Cow Leg

Isi Ewu – Goat head (i have often used just smoked goats meat instead of the head.)

I have often used the recipe I found on allnigerianrecipes.com, but I have a few tips. There is an on going argument as to how safe it is to consume Kaun ( potash) or the local potash. I figured that the idea behind adding Kaun is to get the palm oil to alter in colour, cuddle and thicken, pretty much like palm nut cream. Right? So I went for palm nut cream instead and it worked, turned out really great.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Goat head/ Goat head / Cow foot (cut into sizeable pieces, I used 12)

• 50 grams Stock Fish

• 20cl (200ml) Palm Oil or Palm nut Cream.

• *1 tablespoon powdered edible potash (Akanwu/Kaun/Keun)

•1 teaspoon ground Ehu seeds (Calabash Nutmeg)

• 2 tablespoons ground crayfish

• Yellow Scotch Bonnet / Habanero peppers (to your taste)

• 1 medium onion

• 2 big stock cubes

• Salt (to taste)

• Ugba

To garnish

• 1 medium onion

• 10 Utazi leaves

Procedure

– Wash and season your meat along with stock fish, and cook.

– Add the bouillon cubes (crushed) and the chunks of onion.

– Add a small quantity of water and start cooking at medium heat till well cooked. Add just enough water to prevent burning as you cook. There should not be any stock (water) in the pot when the meat is done. If the meat is tough, I’d recommend you cook with a pressure pot or just cook for longer.

– While the meat is cooking, pour the palm oil or crean into a clean dry pot.

* If you are using palm nut cream, skip the next 3 steps.

– Mix Potash with some water to dissolve and seive. Pour in the potash mixture (sieved) into the oil.

– Stir with a wooden spatula as you pour the potash. You’ll notice the palm oil begin to curdle and turn yellow.

– Keep stiring till all the oil has turned yellow.

– If you are using Palm nut cream ensure there is no water contained in the cream. To achieve this you can either use the canned ones or, after extracting your cream from the palm nuts, set it aside for the cream to collect at the top or put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the cream to set.

– Heat up the cream for about 5 minutes and proceed to the next step.

– Add the ground crayfish, pepper and ehu seeds. Stir very well till they are all incorporated.

– Add the well done meat and Ugba to the palm oil paste and stir very well with the wooden spatula.

– Leave it on heat till the Soup is piping hot, stirring all the time to make sure it does not burn.

– To prepare the garnish, cut the onions into rings and cut the utazi into long thin slices.

I served it traditional style in a wooden mortar
Add the thin slices of utazi and onion rings on top for the full effects.

Normally Nkwobi or Isi Ewu is served alone accompanied with alcohol or soft drinks but for some reason I enjoy pairing it with white rice.

Banga Soup

May 14, 2015August 25, 2017Omolabake for #OunjeAladun13 Comments

Finger licking goodness, a delicacy of the Deltans of the South – South of Nigeria. Made from creamy palm nut extract and brought to life by mix of exotic spices, and fresh water fish banga soup is one King of a soup.

One of my aunts had a Nanny, Mama Onome who would make a big batch of banga soup and store in the fridge for us to eat. The woman made it look so easy to make, my first time making it especially since I was make the palm nut extract myself I realised how much work it was. You don’t have to make the palm nut extract, buy the canned ones. The rest is a breeze. See how good it looks, It tastes great too

Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Palm Nuts

• 1.5 kg Fresh Fish e.g Tilapia or Croaker (I used frozen Cod fish).

• 1 Oburunbebe Stick

• I tbsp Scotch Bonnet (less or more depending on how much heat you can take)

• 1 tsp Banga Spice (this a mixture of the exotic spices that make banga soup what it is, I won’t even attempt to spell the spices cause I would get it wrong)

• Smoked Prawns

• 1 Cup properly washed and cleaned periwinkle in shell

• Smoked Catfish

• *Fresh Prawns (optional)

• Stock Fish

• 1 tbsp dried crushed Bitterleaf or Obeletientien Leaves.

• Salt and Bouillon Cubes to taste

Procedure

To make Palm nut extract.

▪Boil Palm nuts till the skin is tender and pliable.

▪In a mortar pound till the skin falls off from the kernel.

▪Add about 3 cups of warm water and rinse the pulp, using a mesh seive, strain the liquid and collect in a pot.

To make Soup

– Place Palm nut extract on heat , add the oburunbebe stick and allow it to heat up.

– Add Blended pepper, stock fish, smoked fish, smoked prawns, banga spice, salt and seasoning. Bring it to boil.

– Add Fresh fish and let it cook till done. Don’t use a spoon to stir the pot just shake it. Turn the heat down. Add washed periwinkles, fresh prawns if you are using any. Then add the crushed dried leaves, I used Obeletientien

* I learnt a tip when Dunni was in my kitchen not to over cook Banga after all the spices have been added as it tends to taste over salted.

• You know your soup is ready when some oil starts to float at the top.

Delicious like kilode!

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No Fuss Steamed Vegetable

April 22, 2015Omolabake for #OunjeAladun4 Comments

This is probably the easiest vegetable dish you’d ever make. No oil, no pepper , and can be paired with any dish you like. I’ve over indulged in all the sweet and highly calorific stuffs, it’s time to come clean.

Recipe

• 1 bowl (1 litre bowl) of washed and shredded vegetable (Ugu in this instance)

• 1 Large Onion

• 2 Smoked Mackerel (deboned and shredded)

• Salt to taste

• Bouillon Cubes

• 1 tbsp Powdered Crayfish

Procedure

– In a pot or saucepan add about 1/8 cup of water, chop onions and set in medium heat.

– After about 5 mins, add the vegetable, salt, bouillon cubes, and crayfish.

– Stir well and add deboned and shredded mackerel. Stir till all is well incorporated. Don’t cook the vegetable too long, let it retain its fresh green colour.

I’ve been having a little too much fun with mine. Portion Control! *winks