Okra Soup

Ingredients

Meat and stock

• 400 g beef shin (or shaki, tripe), or a mix (cut into 2-3 cm chunks)
• 1 onion (small, halved)
• 1 stock cube
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 700 ml water

To finish

• 80 ml red palm oil
• 1 onion (small, finely diced)
• 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1 Scotch bonnet (deseeded and finely chopped)
• 150 g smoked fish (smoked mackerel; bones removed, flaked)
• 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
• 1 tablespoon iru (locust beans, optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 500 g fresh okra (washed, dried thoroughly)

To serve

• Pounded yam, fufu, eba (or rice)

Method

Stage 1 - Parboil the meat

1. Place meat in a pot with halved onion, stock cube, salt and water.
2. Bring to a boil; skim.
3. Simmer 30 minutes until tender.
4. Reserve meat; keep about 500 ml of the strained stock.

Stage 2 - Chop the okra

1. Trim the stem ends.
2. Chop the okra into very small rounds - 2 mm thick - OR grate on the coarse side of a box grater. The finer the chop, the more "draw" (mucilage) is released.

Stage 3 - Cook the base

1. Heat palm oil in a wide pot over medium-high until it shimmers.
2. Reduce to medium; add the diced onion; cook 4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and Scotch bonnet; cook 1 minute.

Stage 4 - Stock and aromatics

1. Pour in the reserved stock.
2. Add the cooked meat, flaked smoked fish, ground crayfish and iru.
3. Simmer 8 minutes.
4. Taste; adjust salt.

Stage 5 - Okra

1. Tip in the chopped okra.
2. Stir; cook just 4-5 minutes - the okra should be tender and bright green. The soup will thicken visibly into a glossy ribboned texture.

Stage 6 - Serve

1. Spoon the soup alongside a mound of fufu, eba or pounded yam.
2. Eat with the right hand: pinch fufu, dip, swallow.
3. Or spoon over rice (the easier modern presentation).