Achara Soup: Telling the African/Nigerian food story to a global audience

Ofe Achara is a traditional Nigerian delicacy originating from the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria. It is a delicious soup that is common in Abia, Ebonyi and Imo States but is now being relished across Nigeria, many parts of the African continent and of course, globally.

In the South East, Achara is generally known as a special type of Ofe Oha or Ofe Onugbu soup that incorporates achara, a tender and edible bamboo shoot.

This green and lemon green coloured bamboo shoot, is a special elephant grass-like plant that is usually shredded into tiny bits and chunks and cooked with either cocoyam paste known as Ede or powder, egusi, Achi or Offor.

Other important assorted ingredients usually go as accompaniment to make the soup tasty. Key ingredients include palm oil, meat and fish, local locust beans [optional], periwinkle, seasoning, and vegetables.

If you ask me, the best vegetable for Achara Soup is shredded bitter leaves. The soup is prepared by boiling meat and fish, blending the Cocoyam thickener, offor or achi, depending on what you want to use to thicken the soup before adding palm oil, and simmering the soup.

Due to the freshness of the vegetables, essential nutrients like vitamins are fully embedded in this protein, and vitamin–enriched soup. The already made shredded type can be bought in any food market where soup things are sold around town. Just tell the market woman you want ‘Achara’

Let’s just get to the kitchen and relish this proudly Nigerian and African Soup. Any swallow like akpu, fufu, pounded yam, or eba can go with this soup.

Recipe for 4 servings:

• 2 cups of shredded already – made achara leaves

• 2 cooking spoons palm oil

• Seasoning and salt to taste

• 2 tablespoons ground offor or achi

• 1 kilogramme of offal [assorted meat]

• 5 big snails [deshelled and cleaned]

• 1 large stock fish [chunked]

• 2 large mangala or okpo fish [cleaned]

• 5 fresh Cameroon pepper[shredded]

• 3 tablespoons ground crayfish.

• 2 wraps of ogiri locust beans

• A handful of shredded of bitter leaves

Method

• For this soup, I am using ground offor, but you can as well make do with cocoyam paste or powder Ede, Egusi or ground Achi.

• Wash, season and cook the meat, fish and stock fish with salt and seasoning until the meat is tender and well cooked.

• Add the cleaned and washed snails [make sure you clean with lemon or lime] and allow boiling for 10 minutes.

• Pour it into the cooked meat stock, then stir and add the pepper.

• Wash the achara leaves as normal, and add to the pot.

• Mixing the stock properly before adding the palm oil and the ground offor.

• Allow to cook for a few minutes, taste for salt and simmer for a few minutes before adding the shredded bitter leaves.

• Simmer for 50 seconds to keep the freshness of the vegetables.

• Remove from heat and serve with fufu, eba or pounded yam.

. Eke runs a food blog and food channel on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook – Gourmet Guide234, remember to subscribe and follow.