Ewedu soup

Ewedu soup is indigenous to the people of Yoruba, a very popular Nigerian ethnic group.


But then I am guessing you know that already so we are going to delve right into the matter of the day which is totally about making Yoruba ewedu soup.
I have had my own share of Yoruba foods after living in Lagos state for over ten years, I know virtually everything that goes into the stomach of a Yoruba person (I am talking foods), so sit tight, you are at the right place if you are looking to make delicious Yoruba foods.
Are you married or dating a Yoruba person? majority of members of the Nigerian kitchen are ladies that are either dating or married to a Nigerian man, if you are in this group sit tight too!
If you are living outside Nigerian you might wanna start looking up the easy to make Nigerian foods, I doubt you would find all the ingredients for preparing ewedu in your location, except of course you know where to look.
There are simple Nigerian recipes like jollof rice, fried rice, Tomato Stew and White Rice, that is just where to start if you are new to the whole “Nigerian food thingy”. Thank you.
My first encounter with this food – ewedu soup amid stew and assorted meat – was a memorable one, it was a Saturday evening, I was siting right at this same spot when I heard a knock by our neighbor’s daughter. They were having a dedication ceremony and the foods was making rounds, the usual Yoruba way.
She presented a plate of amala and deliciously made ewedu soup in its usual form, the way the yoruba people like it best – Ewedu soup/stew and amala.

OK, this image was taken on a different occasion and not the exact one she presented to me although they look alike.
As you can see above, ewedu soup is not usually served alone in a yoruba setting, but this is of course not etched in stones. You can always experiment wildly on Nigerian foods to find your favorite combination.
Over the months that followed I learned more about Yoruba foods and even added some of them to my menu, I learned to make the ewedu soup and lots of other Yoruba recipes. So if you are looking to make a delicious pot of ewedu soup follow me, let’s get started already.
Ingredients for making ewedu soup is as follows; this would make a simple pot of soup for about six people. You can increase or decrease the ingredients depending on the number of people you are looking to feed and of course their stomach sizes.
Ingredients:
Ewedu leaves (corchorus olitorius) 300g
1/2 teaspoon of powdered potash
1.5 cups of water
Ewedu Broom or a blender
Salt to taste
Maggi (1 or 2 cubes)
Chilly Pepper to taste
4-5 spoons of ground crayfish
There are more simple ways to prepare this soup without the use of the mashing broom. You can slice the leaves to tiny bits and commence cooking
or you can follow the process below with a mashing ewedu broom, the normal way.
One of the qualities of the the ewedu leaf is the ability to draw, perhaps the reason you can not make this soup with any other leaf.

How to Prepare Ewedu Soup

Nicely pick just the leaves (no stem allowed), then go ahead and wash properly with a lot of water to remove any sand left on it.
Pour 1.5 cups of water to a cooking pot and heat to boiling point, add the washed ewedu leaves, soak the half teaspoon of potash in half cup of water and filter into the pot (to soften the leaves), cook for 7-10 minutes.
Then use the cooking broom to mash (more like pound) continuously inside the pot, this will turn the leaves to tiny bits after mashing for about five minutes.
Alternatively, You can also transfer into a blender and pulse a couple of times, I think this way is easier and better. That was how I made the soup above, couldn’t find the ewedu broom.
Transfer back to the pot and add the ground crayfish, maggi, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for just five minutes and you are done with making ewedu soup.
Serve ewedu soup plus stew and meat with either amala, eba, semo or pounded yam, the exact way a Yoruba man would love it.

How to Cook Nigerian Tomato Stew

By Tomato Stew, I mean stew used to prepare the Nigerian Jollof Rice recipes: Jollof Rice, Coconut Rice, Rice & Beans, etc. This tomato stew also forms the base for the Nigerian Beef & Chicken Stew. I always prepare a large quantity of this tomato stew and store in my freezer. This makes cooking my Nigerian Jollof Rice, Spaghetti Surprise and other meals where I use Tomato Stew so easy.

Fry Your Best Tomato Stew Ever! [Video Activity]

Please note that this tomato stew does not have any seasoning and other ingredients because it is just a base. If you watch my Nigerian Jollof Rice, Nigerian Coconut Rice and my Nigerian Spaghetti Surprise videos, this is the tomato stew that I added while cooking those meals.
I get a good number of questions about what I mean by tomato stew and how I make it, that's why I made this page and the video below.
Add beef/chicken or both, thyme, curry, Knorr, salt and pepper to Tomato Stew to get the Beef & Chicken Stew used to eat boiled white rice. For the recipe on how to prepare that, visit this page: How to Cook Nigerian Beef & Chicken Stew

Ingredients for Nigerian Tomato Stew

• 3.2kg (7lbs) fresh Plum Tomatoes (referred to as Jos Tomatoes in Nigeria, tomate pera in Spanish and pomodoro pera in Italian)
• 400g (14oz) tinned tomato paste: (or watery tinned Tomato Puree: 800g)
• Vegetable Oil: a generous quantity (see the video below)
• 2 onions

Important notes on the ingredients

1. Tomatoes: Plum tomatoes are the best for the Nigerian Tomato Stew (and other Nigerian recipes) because all the other types of tomatoes either have a very strong taste, have lots of seeds or contain lots of water. You can also use Roma Tomatoes because it is very similar to plum tomatoes.
2. Vegetable Oil: There's always a debate about this one. But I will insist that you need more than enough oil when frying the tomatoes. This is so that the tomatoes will not burn till all the sour taste is gone and the water has dried from the tomatoes. You will pour out the excess oil when the tomatoes are well fried. Just think about this as "sort of" deep frying the tomatoes. Not that you'll need that much oil but you get the gist.
   
   If you don't use enough oil, your stew will have a sour taste and it will burn even if you stand there stirring frantically :( Cooking should be fun, not tedious. And why worry when you'll pour out the excess oil when you are done? In my opinion, anybody worried about his/her health should stay away from this stew because it is fried.
   
   This oil you pour out is red hence it is perfect for cooking Egusi Soup, Okra Soup and Ogbono Soup for those who cannot buy or do not want to use palm oil. Once it has cooled down, put it in the fridge or freezer because it will go bad if left on the kitchen counter.
3. Tinned tomato paste/puree: The tinned tomato paste sold in Nigeria is usually very thick and concentrated. If you try to fry this tomato paste as is, it will burn straight away. What I normally do is to add some water to it to bring it to the softer consistency as I did in the video below. There are other types of tomato purees sold in Europe and the rest of the world and these are usually watery. If that is the only type you can buy, then you need to cook it with the fresh tomato puree (as explained below) to get it to dry up a bit and get rid of the sour taste before frying.
   
   One more thing; the tinned tomato paste/puree is optional. Its job is to improve the redness of the tomato stew, making it look richer and more appetizing. If you don't want to use it, replace with fresh plum tomatoes. In Nigeria, it is common to use tatashe (Nigerian big red peppers) to improve the redness of the tomato stew. Please note that tatashe is not the same as bell peppers.
4. Feel free to vary the ratio of fresh plum tomatoes to conc. tomato paste. If you want the stew very red and conc. especially if you want to use it too cook Jollof Rice for a large crowd, increase the quantity of tomato paste you will use for a specific quantity of plum tomatoes.

Before you cook Tomato Stew

1. Wash and blend the fresh plum tomatoes. Remember to remove the seeds unless you are sure your blender can grind them very well.
2. If using the thick tinned tomato paste that is common in Nigeria, mix it with cold water to get a softer consistency. See the video below for how I did this.
3. If you are using the watery tinned tomato puree that is common in Europe and other parts of the world, open the tins or packets and set these aside, you'll need them soon.
4. Cut the onions into small pieces.

Cooking Directions

1. Pour the fresh tomato blend into a pot and cook at high heat till almost all the water has dried. If you have the watery tinned/boxed tomato puree, add these to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook till the water in the tomato puree have dried as much as possible.
2. Add the vegetable oil, the chopped onions and the thick tomato puree that you mixed in step 2 above (if it's the puree you are using). Stir very well.
3. Fry at very low heat and stir at short intervals till the oil has completely separated from the tomato puree. A well fried tomato puree will also have streaks of oil, unlike when you first added the oil and it was a smooth mix of the tomato puree and oil. Taste the fried tomato puree to make sure that the raw tomato taste is gone. With time and experience, you can even tell that the tomato puree is well fried from the aroma alone.
4. If you are happy with the taste and you are sure that all the water has dried as much as possible, pour out the excess vegetable oil like I did in the video below, then add the well fried tomato stew to your cooking.
5. If you are not using it immediately, leave to cool down, dish in containers and store in the freezer.

To use, bring out from the freezer and allow to defrost at room temperature and use in your Nigerian Jollof Rice, Nigerian Coconut Rice, Nigerian Rice & Beans, Spaghetti Surprise. Add pepper, seasoning, chicken, beef, fish, turkey etc to get the Nigerian Beef & Chicken Stew used for eating Nigerian Boiled White Rice and other Nigerian staple food.

Nigerian Corned Beef Stew (Spaghetti Sauce)

Corned Beef Stew is simply Nigerian Red Stew prepared with tiny pieces of corned beef instead of lumps of meat. You can also prepare it with minced beef if like me, you are not a huge fan of corned beef.
How to Make Nigerian Corned Beef Stew [Video Activity]
Corned Beef Stew is most commonly used to eat boiled pasta (spaghetti, macaroni) but it goes really well with Boiled yam and Boiled Potatoes. My kids love it and it is a great way to get them to eat more meat. They usually abandon the lumps of meat in their foods. I prepare it with minced beef though.

Ingredients for Nigerian Corned Beef Stew

• 700ml Tomato Stew
• 450g corned beef or minced beef
• 1 onion
• I teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (turmeric)
• 1 cooking spoon vegetable oil
• 1 big stock cube
• Pepper & salt (to taste)

Important notes on the ingredients

1. Tomato Stew is fresh tomato puree and the tinned tomato paste that has been boiled and fried to remove all traces of water and the sour/tangy taste of tomatoes. Please note that this stew does not contain spices or seasoning. It only contains tomato puree, then onions and vegetable oil that was used in frying it.
2. If you do not like corned beef, use minced beef instead. Minced beef is simply ground beef and can be purchased from all major supermarkets in Nigeria.
3. The curry powder mentioned here is not the hot and spicy curry powder rather much closer to turmeric. We call it curry powder in Nigeria.

Before you cook Nigerian Corned Beef Stew

1. If you already have Tomato Stew in your freezer, bring it out to defrost in good time before you need to use it in the recipe. If not, prepare some Tomato Stew by following the steps at: How to Prepare Tomato Stew. Remember to pour out the excess oil when done.
   
   I usually prepare large quantities of tomato stew and store in my freezer. That way, I can prepare such Nigerian recipes as Corned Beef Stew in no time. All I need to do is bring out the stew early enough to defrost and food is ready in 15 minutes.
2. Bring out the corned beef from the tin and use a tablespoon to separate it into small pieces.
3. Cut the onions into tiny pieces.
4. Pound the pepper (if fresh) or grind if dry.

Cooking Directions

1. Start cooking the staple food you will serve with the stew: yam, rice, pasta or potatoes.
2. Pour the vegetable oil into another (dry) pot.
3. When the oil is heated, add the diced onions and fry for a bit.
4. Add the corned beef or the minced beef and fry till the beef turns pale. Ensure you stir constantly so that the beef will not form lumps. Tiny pieces is the best..
5. Add the thyme and stock cubes. image: http://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/images/spaghetti-sauce.jpg
6. Add water to the same level as the contents of the pot and cook till the meat is done. This should take about 7 minutes on medium heat.
7. Add pepper, curry powder, tomato stew and salt to taste.
8. Stir very well, cover and leave to simmer and it's done! So so easy!

Serve with the following staple food of your choice: Pasta, White Rice, Boiled Yam and Boiled Potatoes

How to Cook Nigerian Egg Stew

Egg stew is often mistaken for Tomato Omelette. Both are not quite the same. Yes, they are both prepared with the same ingredients, just not in the same quantities. While Tomato Omelette consists mainly of eggs, Egg Stew has more of tomatoes. Also, Egg stew is not "set" like Tomato Omelette.

How to Make Nigerian Egg Stew [Video  Activity]
Egg Stew is very easy to prepare and it spices up some Nigerian staple foods.

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 4 medium plum tomatoes (Tomato Jos)
• 1 medium onion
• Salt & Dry Pepper (to taste)
• 1 stock cube
• 2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil

Before you Cook the Egg Stew

1. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and cut into big slices (see video).
2. Also cut the onion into big slices (see video).
3. Beat the two eggs, add a pinch of salt and set aside.

Cooking the Nigerian Egg Stew

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a pot, when hot, lower the heat to medium.
2. Add the onions and stir for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, stir for a bit and cover the pot. This is so that the tomatoes and onions do not dry up too quickly. Stir from time to time though.
4. After about 5 minutes, add the ground pepper, salt and seasoning.
5. Keep stirring till the tomato is completely soft and separated from the oil.
6. Slowing pour the egg in a circular motion. Do NOT stir. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low to allow the egg to "cake". You want the egg to form lumps in the stew rather than look mushy.

Egg stew is the best thing that ever happened to Boiled Yam and Boiled Potatoes. You can also serve it with White Rice, Fried Yam, Fried Plantain or Potatoes. And it does many things to plain sliced bread. :)