Bitter leaf soup or ofe onugbu is another famous Nigerian soup made with bitter leaves and cocoyam paste. This delicious Nigerian soup is packed full of flavor, hearty, and quite filling too. Bitter leaf is similar to the Cameroonian Ndole.

Nigeria is very blessed with several dishes but it surprises me that many of us don’t even know the type of dish our next-door neighbor fancies. We can not just be bothered by other cultural food other than our own.

It is high time we begin to mature our palate and try other food than our usual rice and beans with palm oil stew (talking from a Yoruba girl perspective). Anyways, that was then.

This girl has grown up now and so is her palate. Thanks to all my friends from other cultural heritage. Today I’m dedicating this bitter leaf soup (ofe onugbu) to my Igbo friends. I was on the phone with my friend the other day and I told her I am cooking bitter leaf soup but I do not have ogiri, she just told me not to bother.

She said if you give a non-Ibo man maybe he would eat but an Ibo person would not like it and that got me thinking for a minute. I told myself, if I’m cooking ofe onugbu, I better do it right. So, to my Igbo people, I hope I have done you proud on this one. Enjoy a bowl of bitter-leaf soup.

Bitter Leaf Ingredients

Here are Bitter leaf ingredients:

1. Wrap of ogiri

2. Dried cod (panla) washed

3. Cayenne pepper (use according to preference)

4. Cocoyam pieces (substitute with oat or potato flour)

5. Beef seasoning powder or stock cubes

6. Cooked assorted beef, stock reserved (do not use curry and thyme): Substitute beef with smoked turkey or chicken.

7. Ground crayfish

8. Dried Shrimps

9. Palm oil

10. Bitter leaves, chopped and washed

11. Salt to taste

How to Wash Bitter Leaf

Bitter leaf as the name implies is very bitter so you will need to get rid of the bitterness by adding plenty of water to the leaves and squeezing it between your palms.

You will have to wash severally with fresh clean water until you can no longer taste the bitterness. You may add some salt to wash the leaves, we do this in Yoruba land to likewise get rid of the bitterness.

I also heard that you can bring the leaves to boil for about 15 minutes.

How to Make Bitter Leaf Soup

Boil assorted beef with salt, seasonings and onions. (No to thyme and curry) reserve stock. I like using clear stock in cooking so I always sieve the bits and bob from my stock. If this does not float your boat, feel free to leave your stock with the meat.

Bring cocoyam to boil with skin on until soft, peel the skin off cocoyam, and pound till you get a smooth paste. You can also purée the cocoyam with a blender just add warm water when blending to form a smooth paste.

Place a pan containing cooked assorted beef on medium heat; bring to boil for about three to four minutes (add water to the meat if needed to achieve the desired thickness of how you want the soup to be)

Add smoked fish, dried shrimp, palm oil, and cayenne pepper.

Add ogiri (the most essential part of this dish, you can’t substitute it with any other thing. After you have added the ogiri, check for salt. Trust me if the beef is well seasoned you would not be needing salt again for this soup. I did not add any more salt to the dish; I only added 1 cube of seasoning).

Continue cooking till ogiri dissolves in the soup and you should also be able to taste it, add pounded cocoyam paste in bits to the soup, and don’t stir just yet. Cover the pot with a lid and allow the cocoyam to dissolve in the soup. Once this is achieved, stir together and check for salt and seasoning.

Add the washed bitter leaf to the soup, and stir till well combined. Reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer.

Serve Bitter leaf soup  with a swallow of choice preferably yellow garri or pounded yam