Efo Riro Soup is a very popular Yoruba soup in Nigeria. It is one of the best soups in Nigeria because of its health benefits. Efo riro is also a nutrient-rich vegetable soup. It can be eaten with many Nigerian foods like porridge, swallow foods, rice, boiled plantains, yam, noodles, pasta, mention it and you have it.
When cooking efo riro you can combine as many vegetables as you want, say 2-4. You can also decide to cook just one kind of vegetable.
Ingredients for Efo Riro soup
1. Spinach leaves/ pumpkins/ soko / bitter leaf/ water leaf / Ebolo e. t. c
2. assorted meat
3. Pomo
4. Tomatoes and pepper
5. onions
6. Crayfish
7. Locust beans
8. smoked fish
9. Palm oil
10. Salt and seasoning
Preparation of ingredients for efo riro
1. Cut meat into pieces, wash, season and cook (You can cook your pomo with it so that the seasoning will give it good taste when eating).
2. Wash pepper, onions, and tomatoes and grind.
3. Wash your locust beans and put in a separate plate.
4. Pour warm water and salt in the crayfish if it’s not already ground to remove brownish colour from your crayfish and make it fresh again.
5. Wash your smoked fish with water and a little bit of salt to remove stones or any other unwanted substance.
6. Wash your vegetable and cut into small pieces or cut your vegetable into small pieces, add salt and wash.
7. Drain water from the vegetable.
Now, how to cook Efo Riro soup
1. Put a dry pot on a cooking stove.
2. Pour palm oil and allow it to get very hot, it might not get to bleaching level.
3. Pour the mixture of pepper, onions, and tomatoes and stir.
4. Allow being cooked for some time depending on the quantity you are cooking.
5. Add salt and seasoning.
6. Add locust beans.
7. Add meat, fish and any other additives.
8. Allow being cooked till it gets so thick but stirs constantly to avoid boiling.
9. Add your vegetable and stir.
10. Cook for about 5-7 minutes
N:B
1. Do not overcook your vegetable to retain the colour and nutrient. It must still be greenish in colour even after cooking.
2. If you are cooking spinach, ebolo and waterleaf, soak vegetables in hot water and salt to avoid making your efo riro blackish in colour despite all ingredients used.
3. In the case of waterleaf, hot water and salt will quench the slippery nature of waterleaf has during and after cooking.
4. Use salt to wash all the washable ingredients you are using so as to dissolve stones and all other unwanted things that will make your efo riro soup worthless to eat.
