This is a traditional soup cooked mainly in the southern part of Nigeria. It is a soup eaten with all swallow types (like Eba, fufu (akpu),semolina, wheat etc. )
Oha soup can also be compared to other soup like bitter leaf soup when it comes to their preparations but the result of their taste is different due to a difference in the vegetable leaves used, which is soft and smooth in taste with no form of bitter taste at all, compared to the bitter leaf.
Oha soup is a mix of fresh cooked pounded Coco yam paste that serve as the soup thickener which gives it a special aroma and a unique taste. it is best advised to boil the Coco yam for 5-10 mins, peel, and pound it smoothly before adding it to the soup on fire.
Oha leaves contain minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and manganese. Oha leaves are rich in fiber, amino acids like glutamic acid, lysine and cysteine while they have low sodium content. They contain vitamins A, C and some B vitamins.
Ora Oha leaf are commonly known as Oha leaves and they are leaves from the evergreen tree in Africa. The plant that botanically known as Pterocarpus mildraedii, contains many nutrients such as fiber, amino acids, calcium, iron, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, etc. They bring many health benefits for the body as follow:
INGRIDIENTS FOR OHA SOUP
Vegetable: Ora leave
Corms of coco yam
Red Palm Oil
Assorted Beef: Includes best cut, Shaki (cow tripe)
Assorted Fish: Dry Fish and Stock Fish
Chilli pepper
Salt and Crayfish (to taste)
Maggi
Curry
Ogiri Igbo
Before you cook the Nigerian Ora Soup
- Grind the crayfish and pepper and set aside.
- Wash and boil the coco yam corms till soft. Remove the peels and use a mortar and pestle to pound the corms to a smooth paste.
- Using your fingers, cut the Ora (Oha) leaves into tiny pieces. This technique is to prevent the vegetable from becoming darker in color . This happens when you cut the ora leaves with a knife
HOW TO COOK OHA (ORA SOUP)
Cooking Directions
- Boil the shaki (cow tripe), stock fish and dry fish in 1 liter of water till they are well done. First sign of a done shaki is that the cuts will start curling on itself.
- Wash the beef and add to the pot of shaki etc. and continue cooking. When the meat is done, add 2 stock cubes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pepper, Ogiri Igbo and ground crayfish and cook for 10 minutes. Add the coco yam paste in small lumps and then the palm oil.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook on high heat till all the coco yam lumps have dissolved. You can add more water if you feel that the soup is too thick.
- Add the ora (oha) leaves and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add salt to taste, stir and the soup is ready.
