Nigeria – Achara Soup

by Mimi Joseph

Ofe Achara is a delicious cuisine from Abia state located in Nigeria. The cuisine holds its position as the most loved soup among the Abia dishes. The most and key ingredient is Achara (lemongrass). Sometimes it is added with uziza and ukazi leaves that makes it more taste and special cuisine among many traditional dishes.

Nigeria is a country in Africa continent and it is bordered by Niger to the north, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Benin.

As we discussed that the cuisine holds it’s key ingredient which is Achara (as seen in the picture), wchich is the soft rolled veggie that is harvested, cleaned and chopped in small pieces and cooked to reason the taste.

Although Achara holds it’s signnificance over a long period of time ago, nowadays many like to mix it with other dishes like yam, meat, fishes and snails. The dish still holds the taste it gives over and over again.

Plantation for Achara is also faces some climatic challenges as latest climatic condition challenges a lot of natural plants with Achara included.

The dish is very easy to prepare as long as you have what it takes to make it that good and taste, wonderful enough it takes less than few ingredients and a little but careful prepared cooking guide, that is why you are here. Welcome to the cuisine, hold up your kitchen and let’s get started.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce Achara (lemon grass)
• 1 kg Beef
• 2 tbsp Achi
• 5 scotch bonnet pepper
• 2 tbsp periwinkle
• 1 ounce ukazi leaves
• 2 dry catfish
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp ground crayfish
• 2 Onga cubes
• 1 ounce uziza leaves
• Palm oil
• Maggi
• Salt

Cooking procedures

• Prepare both meat and fish by washing them. Fish may be washed with warm water to remove any sand or insects bind up with.
• Chop meat and season with salt, pepper, onions and onga cube.
• Cook meat for about 20 minutes.
• While cooking strip achara and cut into tiny pieces, put them aside on a clean pot.
• Prepare ukazi and uziza leaves by plucking them from their attached branches, chop slices and put aside.
• Add dry fish into the pot and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add achara pieces, season with periwinkle peppers along into the pot. leave to cook for about 3 minutes.
• Take ground crayfish and mix with achi well, add into the soup, stir and allow to cook over sometime.
• Add remained onga cube, cook for 3 minutes.
• Add uziza and ukazi leaves then cook for 2 minutes, stir the mix.
• Our cuisine is ready.
• Traditionally the cuisine is served with pounded yam aside, for some reasons some cooks mix it and cook altogether with yam.

Enjoy this meal together with yam as a side dish. You may also choose to set it as a side dish to other dishes on a table, enjoy the meal.