Ever walk into the store for something and then get side tracked by another beautifully fresh produce and find yourself shopping for a meal you hadn't planned? Yeah, that happened to me when i came across some beautifully fresh okra.
Okra soup is pretty easy to cook and super healthy. The health benefits of okra cannot be over emphasized and it is pretty easy to cook. Get your meat stock right, have an adequate amount of said stock and you're right on track. Here's what you'll need;
250Grm Fresh Okra
1Kg Assorted Meat/Chicken
Dried Fish
Stock Fish
3 Cups Chopped Spinach or Ugu Leaves
1/2 Cup Chopped Uziza Leaf (Optional)
1/4 Cup Crayfish
1/4 Cup Palm Oil
1 Small Onion
Periwinkle (Optional)
Salt and Cameroon Pepper
I prefer to buy fresh okra and chop it myself, it doesn't get any fresher than that, but you can buy pre-cut okra if you like.
You can either chop your onions or grate it, if you buy fresh okra. I split mine down the middle 4-ways and chop it. Set okra aside and start with your meat.
Wash meat and stock fish, add water nearly to the level of the meat. Season with salt and pepper and chop in onions. Cook until tender.
When the meat is cooked, add washed dried fish and crayfish. Turn heat down from high to medium and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Add periwinkle and and palm oil. Stir and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
Add chopped okra and uziza leaf and stir. If you haven't cooked with uziza leaf before or don't like it, you can leave it out. It won't affect the flavor of your soup, i like it because it has a peppery flavor.
Cook for 5 minutes. You want the okra to still be green, softened with a bit of bite to it, but not mushy. If your okra is beginning to brown, you have overcooked it.
Add chopped spinach or ugu.
Mix properly and take of the heat immediately.
Serve up with some eba or just go at it with a spoon.
Enjoy!