Water comes to a hard simmer. Akpu (fermented cassava) flour is added in stages, stirring vigorously after each addition with a stout wooden turning stick (omoge). The flour absorbs the water and forms a thick, smooth, slightly sticky dough that pulls cleanly from the pan walls. Smoothed into a ball, served in a covered bowl. Best made just before eating.
Beef parboils briefly with stock cube and onion to make a quick stock. Smoked fish soaks in hot water and is flaked. Fresh okra is chopped very fine (or grated). Palm oil heats; chopped onion, garlic and Scotch bonnet pepper soften. Stock and meat go in; simmers for 5 minutes. Smoked fish, ground crayfish and iru join. Salt to season. Then the okra goes in and cooks just 5 minutes, barely, to keep the bright green colour and the unmistakable slippery thickness. Served over rice or with fufu.