📍Abuja, Nigeria

**EFO RIRO - My Mothers Sunday Special 🇳🇬🥬**

This is the soup that made me love vegetables as a child. Efo Riro hails from the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria and every family has their own twist. Mine? Lots of locust beans and a secret blend of smoked fish.

**What You Need**

- 5 bundles of spinach or kale (soko leaves if you can find them)
- 2 large red bell peppers (tatashe)
- 5 scotch bonnet peppers (atarodo)
- 1 big onion
- 300g beef or goat meat
- 2 tablespoons locust beans (iru)
- 1 cup crayfish
- 3 smoked mackerel (titus fish)
- 1 cup palm oil (the real red one)
- 2 red habanero peppers
- Salt to taste
- 2 seasoning cubes
- Dried stockfish (optional but recommended)

**Step 1 - Prep your meats**

Wash your beef and season with onion, salt and one seasoning cube. Boil until tender. Do not throw away the stock - that liquid gold goes into the soup. Soak your stockfish overnight and boil separately until soft.

**Step 2 - The pepper base**

Blend your red bell peppers, scotch bonnet, one habanero and half an onion. Do not add water. Let it be thick and coarse like my grandmother taught me - smooth pepper loses the texture.

**Step 3 - Smoke the fish**

Debone your smoked mackerel and set aside. Rub a little palm oil on your hands before touching the fish - trust me on this one. Nobody wants fish bones in their efo riro.

**Step 4 - Start the soup**

Pour palm oil into a deep pot. Heat on medium until the oil is just hot - not smoking. Add the remaining chopped onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add your locust beans and stir for one minute. This is where the magic begins.

**Step 5 - The pepper goes in**

Pour your blended pepper into the oil. Fry for 20 minutes on low heat. Stir every 3 minutes so it does not burn. The oil will start floating on top - that is how you know it is ready. Some people rush this step. Do not.

**Step 6 - Add your meats**

Add the boiled beef, stockfish and stock. Stir well. Add your second seasoning cube and salt. Let it cook for 10 minutes so the flavors marry properly.

**Step 7 - Fish time**

Gently add your smoked fish and crayfish. Do not stir too hard or your fish turns to mash. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

**Step 8 - The vegetables**

Cut your spinach very fine - not too big, not too tiny. Turn off the heat and add the spinach. Stir gently. The residual heat will cook the leaves in 2 minutes. Never boil your vegetables - that bitter taste comes from overcooking.

**My Family Tips**

Use your hand to stir the palm oil when frying the pepper - you feel the temperature better than any thermometer.

Add a pinch of salt to your vegetables before washing to remove hidden sand.

Store leftover efo riro in glass containers - plastic absorbs the smell forever.

Serve with pounded yam, eba, amala or boiled rice. My favorite is white rice with a side of fried plantain.

This is Lagos style efo riro - rich, spicy and unapologetically generous with the locust beans. When I cook this, my neighbors start knocking by step 4.

#Food #NigerianFood #Recipes #Foodie #trendsonnircle #booksonnircle #wildliferestoration #veganlifestyle #ecotourismkenya #jollofrice #creativityunleashed #foodiesfriday #EfoRiroQueen #YorubaSoups #NaijaKitchen