Learn How To Cook Efo Riro Stew With Bitter Leaf

This dish is a typical Yoruba delicacy that is prepared with lots of assorted meats and bitter leaf. It is served in most eating houses nationwide, and very delicious in taste. This article willguide you on how to cook Yoruba efo-riro stew with bitter leaf.

Ingredients used in preparing this delicacy include:

1. Palm oil

Palm oil is also needed in the preparation of efo stew, as it gives that reddish coloring. It is required to fry some of the ingredients that require to be fried slightly like the onions and the rest of them, without red oil or palm oil, eforiro stew would be dull in appearance, and consequently may result in people loosing appetite for the stew. Note before using the palm oil, remember to lighten it or warm it a little for it to be lighter in weight and color.

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2. Onions

Just like you find in other dishes, onions is vital in cooking eforiro stew, it makes the stew or it gives the stew that sassy taste.

Onions can be put more than one times in the course of cooking the stew. It can be put intermittently as the cooking goes on.

Without it, stew may not be that enjoyable to the mouth because it will not be that tasty as you expect it to be, despite the presence of these other ingredients.

Onions comes in different types, we have the white onions and the red onions. Each of them has its unique flavor it adds to any dish you may apply them to.

The white onions is mainly used in preparing such dishes such as fried rice, jollof rice, different types of stews including chicken stew, etc, while the red ones are used mainly in preparing different types of soups.

Every onions is first peeled to remove the outer cover, then after removing the outer cover , you then wash it thoroughly and chop it or slice it, or you may prefer to blend it as the case may be. Onions is an important ingredient in every dish that should not be overlooked.

Read Also: How To Make Yoruba Efo Riro

3. Fresh Pepper

Pepper is yet another useful ingredient in preparing eforiro stew, it gives it that peppery taste, and makes the stew sharper in taste.

Though too much of it can produce a negative effect especially for the asthmatic consumers who don’t like too much pepper in their foods.

Generally pepper should be added moderately so as to enable the consumers to peacefully enjoy the food without having to complain of too much pepper.

Dry ground pepper is most suitable for the cooking of efo stew, though other species can still be used depending on the way you ground it.

4. Crayfish

Crayfish is another important ingredient in preparing efo stew, it is as well a source of protein and gives the efo stew that crayfish taste.

Crayfish is first ground before use, but before it is ground you must make sure that it is well sieved from crayfish chaffs or sand that might have entered the crayfish in the process of handling it in the market place.

Crayfish is brownish in color with tender thungs at its tell. Crayfish comes in different sizes depending on the specie. We have the large size crayfish which they call prawn or oporo in some parts of the Eastern region of Nigeria.

While the other species is the small sized ones which is commonly seen in the market and as well less expensive compared to that of the bigger sized ones called prawn or oporo.

Crayfish is sieved and ground, though some people prefer heating it first in a dry pan or pot before grinding it so as to remove moisture from it.

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5. Snails

Snails serve as part of the assorted meats that accompany the preparation of efo- riro. It is an integral part of the stew which makes the stew more palatable.

Snails generally are tasty source of protein, though one should be mindful of the manner of processing it or them because snails are dirty in nature and they like dirty things just like we find in pigs.

So when processing them should be careful and use lime to thoroughly wash them so that there will not be any risk of getting ones through the consumption of them.

There are different types of snails available in the market today,they are the small sized brownish types and the big sized reddish ones. The reddish ones are very big in size and are more expensive in the market.

They are easier to process than the smaller ones. This specie of snails originated mainly from Ghana, and they are named after a Ghanian name , while the smaller ones are mainly reared in Nigeria and are commonly found in the market, though not so easy to process. Below are the list of ingredients required to cook eforiro stew:

1. 1 kg bitter leaf(washed and squeezed)

2. 225g stock fish (pre-soaked)

3. 1 medium smoked fish

Read Also: How To Prepare Alapa Stew With Beef Meat

4. 225g bushmeat(washed)

5. 225g cooked crab claws

6. 4 snails

7. Lemon juice

8. 225g ground crayfish

9. 225g fesh pepper

10 .500g fresh tomatoes

11 .1 small tin tomatoe puree

12 .2 medium onions

13 190ml palm oil

14 1 teaspoon stock or water

15 Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

a. Place the washed meats in a large pot

b. Add a drop of water or stock

c. Season with salt, ground pepper and boil for 30 minutes or until tender

d. Add the smoked fish, stock fish, crab claws and snails and cook for another 10 minutes

e. Remove from heat and place in a clean bowl

f. Wipe the pot out and pour in the palm oil, place the pot on the fire to heat up the oil

g. Ground the tomatoes,pepper and chillies, add to the hot oil and fry for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

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h. Add tomatoe puree and cook for 5 minutes until well blended

i. Add the cooked meats, crayfish and some more stock if necessary.

j. Simmer for10 minutes

k. Finally add the squeezed bitterleaf, cook for 5 minutes, check seasoning and serve with iyan

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