Back and on Fire -- Ogbono Soup

My kitchen was getting cold and my hunger to cook was heating up. I know what you’re thinking: “where have you been Miss Lyn?” Let’s just say that I had something cooking in my oven...

My taste buds and Bruno’s were jumping for joy when I announced that I was making ogbono soup (pronounced O-BO-NO for my Canadian friends). I’ve been an ogbono soup virgin for many years now; I've always enjoyed eating it, but never attempted to concoct a pot of my own. I decided to cook like a scientist, first thing was to observe....to carefully observe my mother-in-law cook it (she cooks fast so you have to observe very well or else you will miss a step or two). I’ve been a scientist for many years so I knew that after careful observation that I was ready to leap into the procedure and experiment with my own pot.

Similar to egusi soup which is made from melon seeds, ogbono soup is made from wild mango seeds. Remember that everyone has their own way of cooking the same food; here is my version of ogbono soup.

Ingredients:

1 cup of palm oil

1 cup of ogbono spice (crushed)

4-5 cups of beef broth

3 tablespoons of crayfish spice

1 tablespoon of dry pepper

2 magi cubs

Salt to taste

1-2 cups of okra

Cooked meat of choice (I use beef)

Heat up the palm oil on medium heat for 3 minutes

Slowly add in the ogbono spice to the oil and whip it with a wooden spoon. Continue to add all the ogbono spice.

Slowly add in the beef broth and whip it with the wooden spoon. Add a little at a time until the soup is a consistency that you like. Add the crayfish spice, dry pepper, magi cubes and salt to taste. Cook the soup on medium heat for 10 minutes.

Slice the okra into thin slices. In another pot, steam the sliced okra with a little water and salt for about one minute.

Add your cooked meat to the pot.

Add the okra to the ogbono. 

You can eat ogbono soup with eba or pounded yam