African Salad (Abacha and Ugba)
Abacha and Ugba, also known as African salad, is a beloved dish traditionally prepared by the Igbo tribe of Eastern Nigeria. Abacha is made from dried and shredded cassava root and Ugba is obtained from fermented African oil bean seeds.
The key to making a good African salad is to make sure that all the ingredients are well incorporated. As you will see below, there’s a lot of add this, stir, add that, stir. You may wonder why you can’t just add everything and stir, but if you do that, it will be very difficult for you to get a good blend of all the ingredients.
Your African salad will not be complete without Ugba. Ugba, also known as Ukpaka, is made from oil bean seeds. These seeds are cooked for several hours then sliced, washed, and left to ferment a little bit.
Enjoy!
African Salad (Abacha and Ugba)
Ingredients
- 1 kg abacha
- 350 g ugba rinsed in warm water
- 250 ml palm oil
- 1 tsp edible potash
- 1 fresh fish whole
- 2 – 3 medium stockfish
- 1- 2 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 red onion chopped
- 4 – 6 garden egg leaves
- 6 – 8 utazi /otazi leaves Gongronema latifolium
- 2 tbsp crayfish powder
- 5 calabash nutmeg seeds
- 1/2 tsp ogiri
- 1 bullion cube
Instructions
- Begin by washing the fresh fish well and drying it with paper towels. Place it in a dish and mix it with salt, curry and a crumbled bullion cube. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes in a cool place.
- Once marinated, grill the fish for about 45 minutes on high heat until well done.
- Soak the Abacha in cold water till soft (about 10 minutes) and leave to drain in a colander.
- Boil the stockfish in a pot of water with salt and seasoning till soft.
- Dissolve the potash in 1 cup of water.
- In a food processor, blend the ground Ehuru, the scotch bonnet pepper, the crayfish and 1/2 an onion together into a paste.
- Roast the calabash nutmeg lightly in a pan, then grind it with a mortar and pestle or using a spice grinder.
- Heat up the palm oil in a saucepan and start adding the diluted potash mixture little by little as you stir. You should notice the mixture turning yellow and thickening as it cooks. Don't add the residue at the bottom of the potash bowl.
- Next, take off the heat and stir in the pureed pepper mix in a bowl along with the ground calabash nutmeg, the shredded stockfish and onion, followed by the Ogiri and the Ugba. Stir everything well.
- Finally, add the Abacha and sliced garden egg leaves and combine.
- You can at this point also mix in your chopped Utazi leaves, if you wish. Or you can use them as a garnish. Be careful not to add too much Utazi, though; it’s quite bitter and will affect the taste of your Abacha if added in excess.
- Enjoy!
Notes
