Okro, scientifically known as Abelmoschus Esculentus is a flowering plant belonging to the mallow family which has edible green pods. Okro, the edible green pods as the primary ingredient can therefore be used to prepare either stew or soup.
In preparing Okro (stew or soup), aside from the primary ingredient, there are other ingredients that can be added in order to attain a complete meal and also not to lose the slippery feel when rubbed with the fingers.
However, there are variations in the method of its preparation, the difference has to do with ethnicity and locality. For example, while some prefer preparing it with meat (beef), others go for crabs, snails, and other seafood.
The steps in preparing okro (stew/soup) are almost the same, the difference is the amount of water that’s added to the soup but without oil. Also for the stew, you can decide to add garden eggs while for the soup, you can decide to add kontomire, this addition makes it more nutritious.
In this article, we take you through the ingredients as well as the step-by-step approach to cooking Okro (stew or soup) which is mostly enjoyed in West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and other parts of the world.
Okro Stew Ghana Recipe
Okro Stew Preparation
1. Wash meat and wele thoroughly and placed in a neat bowl
2. Chop meat and wele into desirable sizes and place in a cooking pot or saucepan
3. Add little amount of water, place over medium heat, and allow it to boil
4. Chop onions, ginger, garlic and blend them together with your pepper until a smooth mixture is obtained.
5. Set some of the blended mixtures aside and pour the rest into the meat pot and allow it to steam for 10 minutes adding some spices.
6. Wash your okro and garden eggs (optional) and chop into smaller pieces.
7. Put chopped okro and garden eggs into a clean saucepan, add water and cook for a few minutes.
8. Turn off heat and allow the cooked okro and garden eggs to cool
9. Pour some palm oil into a saucepan and place over medium heat.
10. Add sliced onion and salted fish and cook for a few minutes.
11. Add blended pepper, ginger and garlic and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, wash tomatoes, chop and add to the sauce
12. Now add your steamed meat and wele to the mixture, stir and leave it to cook for a few minutes.
13. Pour into the mixture your cooked okro and stir thoroughly, add salt to taste. Allow to cook for sometime, take away from heat and serve
Okro Soup Ingredients
Okro Soup Preparation
1. Wash and roughly chop the okro with a knife or a grater while you cut the kontomire into smaller pieces.
2. Put chopped okro and kontomire into a clean saucepan, add water and cook for a few minutes.
3. Turn off heat and allow the cooked okro and kontomire to cool
4. Chop onions, ginger, garlic and blend them together with pepper until a smooth mixture is obtained.
5. Wash meat and wele thoroughly and placed in a neat bowl
6. Chop meat and wele into desirable sizes and place in a cooking pot or saucepan
7. Add your blended mixture to meat/wele and allow it to simmer for sometime.
8. When well cooked, add water depending on how light or thick you want the soup amount, place over medium heat and allow it to boil
9. Now add the okro and kontomire sauce you prepared and star thoroughly, add salt to taste. Allow to cook for sometime, take away from heat and serve
What Makes Okro Soup Slippery
In the past, in order to keep the okro slippery throughout the entire cooking process, saltpetre which is known as (‘kau’ in the Akan dialect) was used to maintain the slimy nature of the okro.
Health experts have warned that the salt petre (kau) isn’t healthy. Therefore, in order to keep your okro slimy, when cutting your okro at the beginning of the cooking process, roughly chop 2 big sized onions using a knife or grater and then cook together with the okro. This helps to keep the slimy nature of the okro throughout the cooking process.
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