Bitter leaf soup is considered one of the best delicacies in Igboland. The bitter leaf is dark-greenish in colour. It is medicinal in nature and provides cure for some illnesses. It is used for the treatment of high blood pressure.
With a combination of local spices, bitter leaf soup is very nutritious and delicious. You can buy bitter leaf in any market in the country. It can be eaten with Semolina, pounded yam, amala, eba or foo-foo.
Ingredients
2 big bunch bitter leaves
10 pieces cocoyam
Fresh pepper
Meat (chicken or beef)
Stockfish
Dry fish
Crayfish
5 cubes Maggi
Ogiri
Onions
1 cup palm oil or 1 kg palm fruit
Salt
Preparation
Wash the bitter leaf with water very well to remove the bitter taste. Boil the leaf in a pot of boiling water for minutes. Turn off the heat and wash with warm water while using the strainer to sieve the leaf. (This is to ensure that all the bitter taste clears off). Cut into pieces with knife or allow the leaves to be in strand.
Wash meat, dryfish and stockfish with salt. Season with onions, two cubes of Maggi and salt. Cook for few minutes, or as desired.
Scrape the cocoyam with a knife. Cut off both edges for easy cooking.
Wash the palm fruit with salt. Cook it with the cocoyam until it is soft.
Turn off the heat. Drain water from the pot. Add the palm fruit inside a mortar and pound with the pestle or smash it with the hands. Wash it with water, but make sure that it’s not too watery. Pour the palm fruit inside a coriander so that the liquid will be separated from the chaff. Add to the meat pot. Or if using palm oil, add one cup to the meat pot with water.
Peel the cocoyam either with knife or hand. Pound it using a mortar and pestle until it forms a smooth paste.
Turn on the heat and place the pot on a cooker. Add the cocoyam paste in small lumps. Cover the pot and allow it to boil until the cocoyam dissolves.
Add crayfish, pepper, remaining Maggi and salt. Mix the ogiri with little water and also add to the soup.
When the soup is boiling, add bitter leaf and allow cooking for three minutes.
Turn off the heat and allow sitting for few minutes. Serve with your preferred meal.