Efo (Nigerian Spinach Stew)
History of this recipe
4-5
Servings
45
Minutes
368
Calories
Ingredients
- Oil (palm authentic, vegetable healthier option)
- 1 tin plum peeled tomatoes
- 1 medium red bell peppers
- 1 romano pepper
- 1 medium brown onion
- 1+ scotch bonnet pepper
- 3 seasoning cubes
- Salt
- Crayfish seasoning
- Black pepper
- ~260-300g of spinach
- 425g of beef
- 450g of turkey wings
Method
Preparing the meat/stock:
- Clean your serving of beef and turkey with water and lemon (total weight of both: ~850g)
- Add to a pot with:
- ¼ medium brown onion – sliced
- ½ tsp. of salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 1 seasoning cube
- Add boiled water until it almost covers to meat, and boil for ~20 minutes on medium-high temperature
Preparing the stew:
- Add to a blender:
- 1 tin of peeled plum tomatoes
- 1 or more scotch bonnet peppers
- 1 deseeded red bell pepper
- 1 deseeded romano pepper
- ¼ medium size brown onion (roughly chopped)
- You want to pulse this in the blender, or blend for a short amount of time, until the mixture is smooth / roughly blended
- In a pot, heat up ~1/8 of a cup of vegetable oil ~1.5-2 minutes with:
- ¼ medium size brown onion, sliced
- 3 tbsps. tomato puree
- *NOTE: Palm oil is typically used here instead of vegetable oil - whilst this is the most authentic method authentic, if you want to make this meal healthier, you can replace with palm oil with vegetable oil as has been done here
- Add in your blend and 2x seasoning cubes, 1.5 tbsps of crayfish seasoning, allow this to cook away at a medium to hot temperature for ~20 minutes
Bringing it all together:
- Add your beef and turkey back to the stew along with ca. 100ml of the stock created through boiling
- Add ~250-300g of washed and drained spinach to the stew (wash first in hot water, then cold water (to stop the cooking process) and then finally drain thoroughly and chop if you prefer)
- Mix together and cook away at a medium temperature for another 15-20 minutes
- Add salt / all purpose savory seasoning to taste
This stew is usually eaten with what is called a swallow – read our “swallow recipe” to find out more.