My Okra Story
Of all my childhood/adolescence memories, watching my mum cook 'Efere Daddy (which means Okra Soup in our home)' literally everyday was the definer. We even had a special pot for him (about 8" diameter) that was just the right size for one serving so any soup cooked in it went straight from fire to table. My dad's unusual attitude to soup is he prefers (all the time) to eat a freshly cooked soup (he doesn't mind which though his best is Okra) and my mum (an amazing cook, by the way) nurtured this attitude which eventually 'spoilt him'. So, while the rest of us at home had a bigger pot of soup made for a week or two, my dad had fresh soups made daily. Some days, if he came home to one of our frozen soups (because there were no ingredients for his), he may try to eat a small portion off otherwise what follows most of the time is someone having to go to the evening market to buy ingredients for a fresh soup and my dad wouldn't mind waiting hours (as his soup must have among others, shell-on periwinkles which takes time to cut and then parboil; nkorikor [not sure of English name but its a kind of shell fish] - when in season and of course meats which needs cooking!). The best part was, (since Okra is his best soup) as long as those base ingredients were prepped, it literally took 5 mins to cook on days when Okra was on his menu which was almost every day of the year as my mum or no one else would dare handle the stress of trying another type of soup.
Of course as time went on, my sister and I grew into that responsibility and like all inheritance, we inherited the baton of daily 'Efere Daddy' from my mum. Ah, by this time, it was the mobile phone age, our undergraduate 'effizy' was hyped - no one wanted to be caught going to the market everyday and miss out on hanging out with friends when the text came because it was your day to cook thus, we had to strategize ways to make this an easy feat for us and the best way which is what I adopt till date is do a major shopping once a while for stuff you can freeze - cook all meats-freeze; cut periwinkles-wash-season-parboil-freeze. For fresh ingredients, you can shop once or twice a week; try to plant a vegetable patch - this helped us a lot as we always had (when in season) Okra, pumpkin leaves etc. in our back garden. Another way we preserved the freshness of the Okra is leave them on a raffia tray at the coldest part of your kitchen or best if you have an outdoor kitchen, leave them sitting there (raffia allows air circulate around and beneath, also this' the same way its preserved in the market) this is best alternative when you don't have constant power supply but also, nothing beats the freshness of natural air on Okra, you don't want to over refrigerate as they'll start to soften and have some black streaks which you don't want in 'Efere Daddy'. between my sister and I, we've probably cooked a million gallons of Okra Soup and process has been inked to my brains so much so I don't have to think when on it - its the only soup I cook by default.
So, here's my recipe - I have tried to work out measurements based on a one serving portion but note to use initiative when you need to.
You will need: 1.5 cups water (240 ml); 1/2 cup palm oil (120ml); 2 heaped tablespoons crayfish; dried fish & cooked meats (no limit to what you can add - the more the merrier); meat stock 50 ml (for richer stock, try to cook all your intended meats together with good amount of seasoning and a mix of cooking cubes - the combination of flavours improves quality of your stock); 1/2 - 1 part knorr cube (quantity required depends on the richness of your meat stock just so you don't end up with a salty MSG concentrated soup - best to taste as you go); 4 good sized (West African) Okra or 7 English Okra - chopped; 1/2 onion - chopped; 2 large pumpkin or spinach leaves - chopped; 1 large Adusa (Uziza) leaf - chopped (Adusa has an amazing flavour which goes excellently well with Okra - with leaves, you have an idea of quantity if you already have pre-chopped ones); 1 fresh pepper - chopped and salt to taste.
Note - Okra Soup taste better when it's light so you're aiming for a rich soup base with just the right amount of liquid ratio to meats - Okra is what brings them together (more like a veggie thickener), if you add too much okra, it becomes dense, you don't want that.
First bring to boil your water and oil add crayfish, dried fish and all meats (if you are using cooked fresh fish or prawns you can add this later on before ending your cooking) this should be cooking on medium heat for about 3 mins - add your meat stock and check to see its a good balance not too liquidy (it shouldn't be if you have a lot of meats going in, if you have more liquid to meat ratio, you can correct this with a teaspoon of melon powder to thicken OR just scoop out some liquid) add your Knorr cube or any other cooking cube you prefer (taste to see its not too intense, at this point you may need to add a little water to balance it out if need be) now add your Okra and onions and stir in once (too much stir makes it more slimy except you like that type of texture then go for it), reduce heat and taste for salt as you may not need to add anymore - if you need to, then add now; add chopped leaves and fresh pepper and off burner. That's you fresh Okra Soup ready!
(In picture I had only frozen chopped pumpkin leaves and dried Adusa leaves [you can see quantity ratio of leaves - you only need a small portion], this should've shown colour of leaves when off fire - basically every green should still maintain its light green colour with that amazing taste of freshness; adding pepper last ensures you have the best of its heat and flavour. From time you add Okra to cooking's end should be approximately 2 mins - the heat keeps on cooking it so you never want to leave it on fire more than 2 mins)
There is also the 'Fried' process - here you add your add oil to pot on a medium heat stir in your Okra and onions, fry for 2 minutes, add meats and dried fish and keep frying for another 2 mins then add water in bits (you want to hear a sizzle each time you add water also, you may need less water in this process as frying dehydrates the Okra which reduces its size and thus won't be needing as much water to balance out pot ratio), add meat stock and stir; in this process, its OK to stir a bit more as the frying doesn't allow for a lot sliminess to develop. Add crayfish, cooking cube, salt if needed and stir again - taste to see and add your chopped leaves and fresh pepper. This process also gives a unique taste to your soup but best to master it in a smaller soup quantity before you dare it for a larger quantity as any mistake while adding your liquids may change the process from frying to cooking again.
