Eforiro is super quick and super delicious and soon you will have a flavour packed pot of bright greens and vibrant reds ready to be devoured. Do you know the best part? We have different kinds of obstacles in it like shaki, meat, shrimp, dry fish… the list goes on. It is also so versatile and It can be eaten with swallow and/or rice #welovetoseeit.
The other day a friend referred to me as a lazy chef and I had to correct her.I’m not lazy, I just like things simple. Cooking shouldn’t feel like manual labour but it should feel as natural as taking a shower in the morning. After all, We all eat food to survive. I understand that a lot of Nigerian dishes require us to bend our backs or stand for hours but times have changed. I know my baby girls aren’t out her pounding yam on a day to day!
Now Eforiro is a Yoruba dish and it is actually one of my favourite dishes because it doesn’t stress me at all. “Efo” means “vegetable” while “riro” means “stir” so it is the the Nigerian version of stir fried vegetables. But of course, we are Nigerians and our Nigerian version adds more efizz to the regular smegular stir fried vegetable.
What goes in Eforiro soup
To make this recipe you will need:
- Spinach- chopped, blanched and ready to go. See below on how to blanch your vegetables
- Onion- I like to blend mine so you can hardly tell that its in there but its subtle sweetness is impeccable in this dish
- Pepper blend- made with red bell peppers, onion and scotch bonnet peppers. Before adding it into the soup make sure to dry it out and this gives your dish a very concentrated.
- Iru- iru is fermented locust beans. It can be bought from any African market
- Roasted meat- lots and lots of it. if you need tips on how to roast your meat in the oven click here.
Q: “can I use tomatoes in efo riro?” it’s odd but the answer is yes!
If you are worried that your efo riro is too watery- don’t worry. If you boil the tomatoes till it dries out you will enjoy your eforiro .Just Follow the pepper base instructions in the recipe card and substitute bell peppers for tomatoes.
Tips for making the best Eforiro
- Reduce the water content.- this is done by boiling the pepper blend for 30 minutes to dry it out, using a tiny bit of meat stock and blanching your vegetables(instructions below).
- Roughly blend your red bell peppers- this does magic for the final appearance
- keep the seasoning simple– you only need salt, Cameroon pepper, stock powder and crayfish
- Do not overcook the vegetables
- Roast your meat after boiling– this step is optional but this layer of flavour is impeccable and I assure you that your guests wouldn’t want to leave without take away.
How to blanch vegetables
- Chop your vegetables
- Place them in a bowl and pour hot water on them
- Drain the water and immediately soak it in cold water
- Let it soak for 10 seconds and proceed to squeezing the water out
I know many of you have voiced your concern on the loss of nutrients caused by blanching, so I found a really good article here that explains the science of blanching. P.S I’ts not as bad as you think and it actually has some benefits.
I am a Nigerian foodie and here I try to post what I enjoy eating as a nigerianfoodie. The best part is that I get to share it with you and hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do! Grab the recipe, go shopping and lets start cooking.
P.s if you try this recipe at home, remember to tag me @nigerianfoodiehub on instagram so that I get to see it and I add you to my cabinet of honourable foodies.
More Nigerian recipes
Eforiro soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs spinach
- 4 Red bell peppers
- 1 Red onion
- 1/2 cup palm oil
- 1 tbsp locust beans
- 1 lb roasted meat goat meat
- shrimp
- Dry catfish washed and deboned
Spices
- Salt
- Cameroon pepper
- Stock cubes
- Crayfish powder
Instructions
Blanch Spinach
- Chop your vegetables
- Place them in a bowl and pour hot water on them
- Drain the water and immediately soak it in cold water for 10 seconds
- Proceed to squeezing the water out
Prepare base
- Blend red bell peppers, onions and scotch bonnet roughly and boil in pot till it dries
Prepare soup
- Heat palm oil in a pot and add one stock cube, cray fish and locust beans. At this point you can fry your shrimp for 2 mins and take it out
- Add base to oil and let it fry for 3-4 minutes. Then add roasted meat, a little stock, salt, pepper and allow it simmer
- Finally add blanched spinach and fried shrimp and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Taste and season to taste
- Serve with your favourite swallow and enjoy!
