What it is
A dense, protein-heavy soup thickened with cocoyam and ofor, combining ugu and okazi leaves with a large amount of assorted meat, stockfish and dried fish. It is the most expensive of the Igbo soups to cook properly.
Key ingredients
- Cocoyam or ofor thickener
- Palm oil
- Ugu leaves
- Okazi (ukazi) leaves
- Assorted meat
- Stockfish
- Dried fish
- Ground crayfish
- Ogiri
A list of what goes in, not a recipe. Quantities and method vary by household.
How it is eaten
Eaten with pounded yam or fufu, pinched and dipped, with the meats worked through by hand.
Cultural significance
Ofe Owerri is named for Owerri in Imo State and functions as a status soup: it is cooked for important guests, chieftaincy events and weddings, and its cost is part of its meaning. Igbo cooks distinguish it from everyday soups precisely because it is not cut down, and using less protein is understood to make it something else.
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