Nigerian Okra Soup (Obe ila) with Fresh Fish and Assorted Meat

Nigerian Okra Soup with Assorted Meat and Fish

Okra soup (also known as Okro soup or Lady’s finger soup) is a delicious soup popular in several parts of the world. It is also a popular Nigerian Soup and known as Ofe Okwuru  (Igbo), Obe Ila (Yoruba ), Miyan Kubewa in Hausa  language.

Some folks love their okra soup chunky, while others want it smooth, but all that really matters is that the soup comes out tasty and delicious.

Okra soup is very easy to prepare and you don’t need to break the bank or have any cooking skills  to make a delicious sizzling pot of okra soup. Below you’ll see how easy it is to make this soup.

Okra is also great for weight watchers and has lots of health benefits. Some of these benefits can be found here.

Here’s a video recipe on How to Make Nigerian Okra Soup

Ingredients

  • 300 grams Okra (Ladyfingers)
  • 2 cooking spoons Red Palm Oil
  • 500 grams Assorted meat (Beef, Shaki(Cow’s Tripe), Ponmo(cow’s skin), turkey, chicken(you can use anyone of choice or all if you choose)
  • 200 grams Assorted Fish (Dry Fish, Stock Fish,Fresh or Iced Fish )(you can use anyone of choice or all if you choose)
  • 1 tablespoonful ground Crayfish
  • 1 small onion bulb( for cooking the meat).You can add some to the soup if you want to.
  •  2 handfuls of shredded green Vegetable – Pumpkin leaves or Spinach
  •  2 big stock cubes (bouillon cube)
  •  Pepper to taste
  • Salt to taste
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TIP: If you are on a weight  or health watch, you can substitute palm oil for  stew oil from any red stews or use blended tomatoes. These are healthy alternatives , but it won’t give you the distinct taste of palm oil.
So, I’ll recommend you add just a tablespoonful of red palm oil to your tomatoes, ONLY if you want that distinct palm oil taste ☺.

Cooking direction
Before your cook the Okra soup:

** Chop the okras into tiny bits, but if you want it less chunky, you can grate it with a grater. Set aside
Shred or cut the vegetables into thin sliced and set aside.

** Season the stock fish and assorted meat with a stock cube, onions and salt to taste.Cook until tender.
If you’ll be using  shaki(cow’s tripe) or ponmo(cow’s skin), you need to cook them first before adding the other meat because they are tough .
Add the fresh or iced fish and precook for 5minutes.(that’s if you’re using this)

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Now,to cook the Soup…
1. In a clean dry pot, heat up the palm oil , add the chopped or grated okras and stir-fry for 5 minutes until you begin to see the okra mucilage(”until it begins to draw a bit”).

2. Add the stock from the cooked meat and fish. Add the ground crayfish, pepper, stock cube and the cooked assorted meat and fish (don’t include the precooked fresh fish yet , so that it doesn’t overcook and break into pieces).
Cover and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Okra is also a vegetable, so try not over cook it.

3. After 5 minutes, add the vegetables, salt to taste and the Precooked Fresh or iced fish. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes or until the fish is well cooked.
And your delicious Okra soup is ready.

See how easy it is to make a yummy okra soup. You really don’t need all the  assorted meat and fishes, but as we say in Nigeria ”Food wey sweet, na money kill am” ; so feel free to indulge ☺ .

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Okra soup is usually served with pounded yams, eba, fufu , tuwo masara, wheat meal and other ”swallow meals”.

Other Related Recipes

* Bitter leaf Soup (Ofe Onugbu) 
* Nigerian Beef Stew
* Banga Soup : Urhobo Isoko Banga Soup Recipe
* Nigerian Chicken Stew
* How to Cook Okazi Soup (Ukazi Soup)
* Obe Ata Dindin : Nigerian Fried Pepper Stew
* How to Cook Edikang Ikong Soup
* Nigerian Tomato Stew(Vegan Stew)
* How to Cook Afang Soup
* Nigerian Pepper Soup
* Nigerian Ogbono Soup :How to Cook Ogbono  Soup
* Nigerian Fish Stew (Obe Eja Tutu) 
* How to Cook Nigerian Egusi Soup(Ofe Egusi/Obe Efo Elegusi)

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29 Comments

  1. Peter Okechukwu
    July 20, 2018 / 10:17 am

    I never knew preparing this meal was so easy. Thanks a lot for the help, I appreciate

  2. Emmanuel Nonye
    May 13, 2018 / 6:00 pm

    Thank you very much for the article, it helped alot…

  3. Samuel Dada
    May 13, 2018 / 5:58 pm

    Thank you very much, it helped me prepare the food as a surprise for my wife and kids. And it tasted nice.

  4. Butterfly Queen
    May 11, 2017 / 2:05 am

    Thank you so much for your blog and recipes! Today, I made this soup for the first time. My kitchen had lovely aroma, and the taste is delicious!! Now, I can cook it for myself. Such happiness you have given me.

  5. Ariel S.
    October 9, 2015 / 6:38 pm

    Also, while reading your ingredients list I noticed you mentioned having "2 cooking spoons" of palm oil. What exactly is a cooking spoon? Is it equivalent to half a cup, etc?

  6. Ariel S.
    October 9, 2015 / 6:14 pm

    I lost you a little bit while reading your instructions. When you mention adding the stock to the pan-fried okra, where is the stock coming from if I'm only using fish? Should I boil the fish for a little while with the bouillon or just pan-fry the fish and then just boil some water with seasoning in it?

  7. Unknown
    September 30, 2015 / 3:46 pm

    defn going to try frying the okra first before adding the stock! i hope it draws, my okra never draws lollz! can't wait to try this out soon!

  8. Mya Carter
    August 15, 2015 / 4:46 pm

    I just made this soup and it turned out well! I was too lazy to chop fresh okra, so I bought chopped frozen ones and just chopped them up a bit more in the blender. Thanks for the recipe aunty nky.

    • Nky Lily Lete
      August 16, 2015 / 10:46 pm

      You're welcome hun, thanks for your comment 🙂

  9. Anonymous
    July 29, 2015 / 12:29 am

    Thank you so much,you are indeed God sent

    • Nky Lily Lete
      August 7, 2015 / 1:49 am

      🙂

  10. Anonymous
    July 29, 2015 / 12:27 am

    Thank you so much ,you are indeed A God sent

  11. Anonymous
    May 14, 2015 / 4:08 pm

    Have learnt alot from this even though i have been making this soup for years. This recipe made a difference!

    • Nky Lily Lete
      May 22, 2015 / 3:11 am

      I'm glad to be of help 🙂

  12. Anonymous
    May 10, 2015 / 4:43 am

    i messed up the illa and boiloed it w/o using kan(limestone)in it first is there any way to fix it.

  13. Anonymous
    August 11, 2014 / 9:41 am

    So no need to boil d okra first? (to make it draw)

    • Nky Lily Lete
      August 15, 2014 / 10:21 am

      No need to boil it first, dearie 🙂

  14. vicky
    June 27, 2014 / 1:29 pm

    Thanks for the recipe

    • Nky Lily Lete
      June 30, 2014 / 8:58 am

      You're welcome 🙂

  15. vicky
    June 27, 2014 / 1:28 pm

    Thanks for the recipe

  16. Oluwafunsho
    June 24, 2014 / 6:13 am

    Thank you so much dear

    • Nky Lily Lete
      June 25, 2014 / 9:42 am

      You're welcome hun 🙂

  17. Anonymous
    June 24, 2014 / 6:12 am

    Very nice. Thank u so much nky