Black Fungus Okra Soup

Black Fungus Okra Soup is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic beef and seafood stew of okra, pumpkin leaves, periwinkles, chillies and tree ear mushrooms in a red palm oilbase. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of:Black Fungus Okra Soup.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

55 minutes

Total Time:

75 minutes

Serves:

6

Rating:

Tags : Wild FoodChilli RecipesBeef RecipesNigeria Recipes

Now here is a really interesting Nigerian recipe from the Bini region that I can also rightfully add to my collection of wild food recipes. The black ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) also known as wood ear or black wood ear, also jelly ear, tree ear is a fungus (recently recognised more accurately as a species complex) found on rotting wood (most notably elder) that’s characterised by its noticeably ear-like shape and brown colouration. It is edible and dries well for storage. Today, the fungus is a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes, such as hot and sour soup, and also used in Chinese medicine. Recently I found that it’s used in Ghana as a blood tonic. Indeed, in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions it is cultivated, though more commonly used medicinally. Studies of the Bini people in southern Nigeria found that the local inhabitants collected and ate A. auricula-judae, but that it was not one of the mushrooms they used medicinally. This is a Bini adaptation of a traditional okra stew.

Ingredients:

12 medium sized Okra Abelmoschus esculentus
A Handful of Pumpkin leaves ‘Ugwu’, Chopped
A handful of Black Fungus Mushroom ‘Erobelebelenti’
1 cup Periwinkles ‘Isam’ (Remove the tongue if it hasn’t been removed already)
300g Beef (Cut into large chunks)
1 Stockfish head (see the how to prepare saltfish/stockfish to make your own)
2 cooking spoons Crayfish (ground)
2 yellow Scotch Bonnet chillies, diced
1 Onion, diced
3 cooking spoons red Palm oil
Seasoning (i.e Maggi or Knorr stock cubes)
Salt to taste

Method:

Before you begin, wash and Soak the Black fungus mushrooms in warm water until they expand and soften. In another bowl, soak the stock fish in hot water so it softens before you start cooking. This process takes about 20 minutes.

Grate the Okra and set aside. Grating the okra makes it draw more (ie release more of its slime) when boiled. This can be done while the Mushrooms Soak.

Combine the washed beef and softened Stockfish into an empty pot over medium-high and add some water.

Add the Diced the Onions and chillies to the pot. Crumble over your choice of stock cube, season with salt then cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. At this point, add the periwinkles and soaked Black fungus then leave to cook for another 10 minutes.

Pour the grated Okra into the pot then add the ground crayfish and Palm oil. Mix well to combine then cover and cook for 7 minutes. My wife loves her draw soups, so she wants as much slime from the okra as possibe… me not so much. So, when I’m preparing for myself, I tend to dice the okra and then stir fry it in red oil for 5 minutes to dry, rather than grating it.

Add the chopped pumpkin leaves and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Take the draw soup off the heat and serve hot alongside any Form of Swallow.