How to Cook Okro Soup with Fresh Fish – Fresh Fish Okra Soup
How to Cook Nigerian Okro Soup with Fresh Fish – Fresh Fish Okra
Okra is a common edible fruit in our kitchens that can be incorporated into a variety of diets. When not cooked, it is referred to as a fruit, and when steamed or cooked, it is referred to as a vegetable.
For infants who have begun the weaning process, okra soup is a good source of complementary feeding.
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Nigeria Okro Soup with Fresh Fish
Furthermore, because children dislike chewing vegetables, you may need to blend or grate the okra to make it smaller for them if you are preparing it for them.
Seafood Okro, seafood soup gumbo, such as okra soup with crab, prawns, and fish, is a type of okro soup. Okro soup is one of my all-time favorite soups.
It’s always amazing, whether it’s plain okro stew or otong soup, ila asepo, or Okro Ogbono, however, it’s prepared.
Nigeria Okro Soup with Fresh Fish
One of many okra soup recipes is seafood okro soup. Vegetable Okra soup can be used in a variety of ways in African cuisine.
It is used in both eastern and western cuisines because it is high in vitamins and minerals and can be prepared in a variety of ways.
We have the famous classic okra soup recipe (the fried version), as well as the “oil-less” okra soup, okra soup with ogbono, okra soup with egusi, okra soup with ugba, and a variety of other Nigerian okra soup recipes.
It’s no surprise that it’s a popular meal among both children and adults.
Even though I used palm oil to make this seafood okra soup, if you want to go the “oil-free” route, you can omit it.
I’d also like to point out that you can use as much seafood as you want; the choice is entirely yours.
What exactly is Okro?
Okra is a green edible pod with white edible seeds in the parietal placentation that are widely consumed. Okra can be fried, baked, grilled, or stewed, and it can be used in a variety of recipes.
Although the terms okra and okro are often interchanged, they refer to the same vegetable, which is also known as lady’s fingers or gumbo in some parts of the world. Okra is a long, greenish pod that looks like a fresh corn husk and has the appearance of a spike, which is why it’s also known as a lady’s finger (s).
More on Okra Vegetable
Okra is extensively utilized for many cuisines in Africa and other areas of the world, and it offers a variety of health advantages and uses. The Indians consume okra as crunchy snacks, which may surprise you.
In India, ladyfingers are frequently deseeded, seasoned with spices, and then fried in vegetable oil until very crispy and crunchy, and given as snacks at celebrations or festivals.
I sometimes wonder what would have been used as a substitute to draw soups if there were no okra/ladies’ fingers because okra is a significant item used for viscous foods; but, thank goodness, there are other viscous vegetables such as cocoa fruits and ewedu, among other vegetables.
Nigeria Okro Soup with Fresh Fish
I said cocoa; of course, I’m referring to the tender green cocoa pod, which is occasionally used by the Ibibios to make draw soups, and it tastes much like okra with an earthy scent, and it’s even more viscous than okra; if you’re not sure, try it for yourself and compare the two.
Okra soup is a famous Nigerian draw soup made with leafy vegetables such as uziza and ugu (fluted okra), green, and spinach
The Yorubas have a favorite okra meal called white okra soup, which is commonly served with stew and eba. Afang soup, ogbono, editan soup, atama soup, and withafia efere are some of the other soups that use okra (Calabar white soup).
All of the soups described above may be made with okra, however, the amount of okra required for these soups is always little.
It’s a 1:3 ratio, depending on how much soup you’re making. Okra is only used in big quantities in editan soup and ogbono soup because it blends so well with editan and ogbono, and the editan leaves and ogbono are viscous, so they don’t replace the sweetness of okra
How to prepare okra soup – Nigeria Okro Soup with Fresh Fish Recipe
Okra soup can be made in a variety of ways, including fresh okra soup and dried okra soup.
In Nigeria, tough okra is sliced and sun-dried for days before being ground or pound into powder.
This powder is then used to thicken the soup and to make a famous Hausa soup called miyan busheshen kubewa, which translates to “dried okra soup.”
This is a different type of okra soup popular in Nigeria’s northern regions.
If you were to bring a dish of fresh okra soup and a plate of dried okra soup together and be asked to pick between them,
I doubt you would be able to do so because they are both unique and distinct in flavor.
Ingredients for Seafood okro soup
- 25 pieces medium-sized Fresh Okro (ladyfingers)
- 3 stock cubes (Maggi)
- ΒΌ cup grounded Crayfish
- 1-2 cooking spoons Palmoil
- 1 tablespoon ground pepper
- Vegetable (Ugu, kale, spinach, or any vegetable of choice)
- 3-4 red or yellow Scotch bonnet (chopped or blended)
- Prawns (deveined)_
- Few pieces Stockfish (Panla)
- Hake Fish/ Mackerel fish
- Crab, squids, Shrimps, mussels (cleaned)
Although this seafood okra”okro” soup is simple and contains some seafood, feel free to add any other seafood you like, such as crabs, lobster, squid, calamari, and periwinkles.
Also, I used Hake and Mackerel for my fish but you can use any fish of your choice.
Recipe for Seafood Okro Soup
- Wash the Okro and blend, grate or dice it into small cubes. If you’re blending, don’t use too much water.
- Place the fish, stock cubes, pepper, palm oil, iru, and salt in a pot with about 2 cups of water.
- Note: I used hake and mackerel as my main ingredients.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes before adding the crayfish, crab, squids, and shrimps and cooking for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the fish from the sauce and set it aside.
- Don’t worry, it’ll be added back into the pot later. The reason is to avoid scattering the delicate fish.
- Add the grated or blended okro and Ugu leaves at this point.
- After the okro has been added to the pot, do not cover it. If you do, okro will lose its resiliency.
- Check for salt and seasoning, adjust as needed, reduce heat to low, and cook for 3 minutes.
- After you remove the Okro from the heat, the residual heat continues to cook it for another 2 minutes, so be careful not to overcook it.
- I wanted it to be peppery, so I added some more chopped scotch bonnet.
- That’s it for the Seafood Okro Soup.
- Serve with pounded yam (recipe HERE), Eba, Amala (recipe HERE), Semo, or your favorite solid.
Health Benefits of Seafood Okro Soup with Fresh Fish
- It is high in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber, and it is also medicinal.
- Okra promotes fat loss.
- Okra is beneficial during pregnancy because it contains folic acid, which is necessary for the neural tube development of the fetus.
- A laxative that aids in bowel movement.
- Okra is beneficial to your skin and overall health.
- Can help with diabetes treatment.
- Okra is beneficial to the colon.
- The high fiber and mucilaginous content of okra pods aid digestion and relieve constipation.
- Okra is a cough suppressant.
- Okra is beneficial to your eyesight.
- The pods are high in vitamin ‘A’ and flavonoid anti-oxidants.