Ofada Rice Stew

MrsChocT · Nov 22, 2006 , 04:29 PM

My people,
I dey beg una, who sabi how to cook Ofada stew? I chop am tire for Isale eko during my recent Naija waka and now na so tey Ofada stew my nose dey smell. I know say major ingredients na Iru and Palm oil. Someone help a sister out, I'm trying to finish my Thanksgiving menu.............

MsWoman · Nov 22, 2006 , 06:35 PM

Ofada rice stew grows on you i.e. the cooking of it. You can't just learn how to cook it one time. I cook it, and I have gotten better over the years. The first few attempts were not that great, but now, I am a master at it. The key is to "gba" the palmoil i.e. fry it??? Also, when you are putting your pepper, onion, etc. together, make sure you add green pepper. For me, for every single red bell pepper I grind, I add two green bell peppers. Anyway, once you gba the palmoil well, well. Fry your meats - goat meat, shaki, even chicken (cut in little cubes) in the oil. After, add your ground up peppers, onions, etc. and cook for a long time till you sef know say the thing don fry. Add your fried meats, and continue to cook until the soup thickens well.

MrsChocT · Nov 22, 2006 , 07:26 PM

Ms. Woman , thank you....emm se tomato na part of it....I had heard someone say she no dey add tomato...

MsWoman · Nov 24, 2006 , 06:05 PM

I won't recommend tomatoes even though I have in the past.

MrsChocT · Dec 6, 2006 , 09:44 PM

Ms. Woman,
I made the Ofada stew. Na only small im remain for Pana pana to land 4 my domot..dem 4 don carry me comot but sha I manage. I added my iru woro, small panla aka oporoko, honeycombed tripe, smoked turkey ati be be lo. No tomato...the difference is clear.... and I balanced it long grain rice since Ofada no dey.
Ose Maami....

MsWoman · Dec 7, 2006 , 05:52 PM

I'm glad it worked out oh! Good for you! Sorry, I should have warned you about the smoke of the palmoil. Some of my friends who have decks actually do it on their decks - can you imagine? Me, I just open all the windows in the house from the top floor to the bottom floor (my house is four floors high) which explains why I hardly ever cook it in the winter months make I no come catch hypothermia. Next time, try it without the smoked turkey (personally, I think it affects the true taste).

BimpeTwin · Dec 10, 2006 , 11:27 PM

Ofada Stew aka Designer Stew
How to make DESIGNER STEW.......(if anyone has eaten Bank Olemoh rice in Surulere ..u would understand what i mean)

Recipe:
Palm oil,Tiny pieces of meat, shaki,gizzard (or any type of meat u choose to use)
maggi, salt,
ground pepper (tomatoes, onion, pepper....which could be very hot..depending on ur standards..they could be fresh...or just brought out from the freezer)

Depending on the amount of meat u want to use, put a large quantity of palm oil in ur pot..and heat till it is bleached...(i mean bleached....until it is as clear as veg oil....cos that's were the smell n the taste comes from)..

Some people may be worried about smoke alarms or neighbours...but u can heat...n let it cool down ..before heating again..it takes along time...maybe up to 30mins or more....

U should have seasoned the meat properly with onion and all the spice u want to use....Pour the seasoned meat in the bleached palmoil (be careful..don't let it catch fire oooo...u can remove it from the cooker before pouring the meat)...

Simmer the meat on low heat in the palm oil..(don't add water....just allow cook till meat is tender.... After a while the meat would cook and fry in the same oil....(dat's y u have to make sure the palmoil is much....

When the meat is fried to ur standards..pour the ground pepper and let cook till the pepper is fried....all u need do is add maggi n salt ....no spices necessary...

Serve with boiled rice

agbonme · Dec 12, 2006 , 04:55 PM

People,

Take am easy oh. Ofada stew and rice really delicious, but too much na cholesterol from the palm oil.

Oluiwa · Dec 12, 2006 , 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by agbonme

People,

Take am easy oh. Ofada stew and rice really delicious, but too much na cholesterol from the palm oil.

Well, true but I heard that some palm Oil(infact 'Oluolu foods' palm oil claims to be cholestrol free) are cholestrol free, now if i they are cholestrol free I am not sure if thats how they are naturally or if the cholestrol has been removed and what are the imlplications of the process of removing the cholestrol, hmm just something to watch out for my sisters.

But more frightning is a study that sais, food especially carbohyrates fried at very high temperatures, form a substance called 'acrylimide'(think of fish and chips or fries and fried chiken) not too sure about the spelling, however this Acrylimde has been Identified as a 'cancenogen' (again help with spelling I cant be botherd with proper spelling if mine is wrong)
Cancerogen's are suppossed to trigger cancer, scary stuff

Although I am not sure this affects all types of cooking oils since they all have varing temperature thresholds, so I do not know if Palm oil that we use for Ofada stew is included in the study.

All the same I love Ofada stew and if we have been eating it for generations then I doubt if there is any cause for alarm at all,
firstly Cancer has been very rare in Our parts of the world until recently due to change in lifestyles and diet from over processed foods.

secondly. I think our parents ate a lot of other beneficial foods that fight disease through our immune systems,organic foods that contain high amount of antioxidants, phytonutrients and key vitamins like pepers/chili, cayenne peper, spinach(proper efo), root ginger, fruits and finally the bitter tasting 'agbo' (various types of herbal infusions and please do not drink roadside paraga only take from experienced makers who understand what they are doing as per dosage and so on a lot of herbdrink sellers in the cities are cowboys/girls) drank regularly for detoxification of the bodies toxins.

I just thought we should cover all areas even thuogh we talking about Ofada rice stew.
Thats moi .
Tip: if you like the ofada taste but you only get a limited supply of it you can make it last longer by mixing it in quater portions with normal rice before cooking them together, since the aroma of ofada is very rich, it will make the whole pot of rice taste like 100% ofada

I actually did this to my wify's surprise and since then she does it too.

Infact am going to try cooking the stew tonight although I might need some help from my Iyawo

omaks · Dec 12, 2006 , 06:21 PM

Heh.... hnm! My throat dey play one kin funny movement from reading this ur tin. Anyway, nuff talk about Ofada rice stew. Who among all of una sabi cook ''Aya ma se'' stew? Also, wetin happen to Aroso rice? All comers welcome!!

Rose · Dec 12, 2006 , 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by Serious_Naijababe

Ms. Woman,
I made the Ofada stew. Na only small im remain for Pana pana to land 4 my domot..dem 4 don carry me comot but sha I manage. I added my iru woro, small panla aka oporoko, honeycombed tripe, smoked turkey ati be be lo. No tomato...the difference is clear.... and I balanced it long grain rice since Ofada no dey.
Ose Maami....

You really threw down, huh? Now did you take my suggestion and grate some cheese on top??

nadia · Oct 21, 2007 , 06:11 AM

Visiting new york city soon.....does anyone know a good caterer who can make great ofada rice stew or a restaurant/bukka to get it? Thanks.

La Nigeriana · Feb 22, 2008 , 07:46 PM

Shizzzzer!!!! I miss home

ISL · Feb 22, 2008 , 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by agbonme

People,

Take am easy oh. Ofada stew and rice really delicious, but too much na cholesterol from the palm oil.

I think all traditional naija stews have this problem since they all contain sizable quantities of either palm oil or gra'nut oil...........I personally been using extra virgin olive oil in place of g-nut oil for about a year now.

And even then, I don't ever add more than one tablespoon full of stew to my rice........not a problem since I never eat more than one (cooked) cup of rice at a sitting anyway (one fistful for those more familiar with this form of measurement)..........

As far as I'm concerned, rice should serve as a side dish in a balanced meal, and not a main course like we've become accustomed to doing.

I usually fill the rest of my plate with some sort of low fat meat (grilled Chicken breast/lean beef/Salmon) and of course veggies...........so yeah you can still eat your ofada, moderation is the key.

That said, Ofada for this weekend sounds good!!

ISL

Keeps TWO fire extinguishers in his kitchen ever since the "oven fire" incidents a few years ago

Atomic Kitten · Feb 22, 2008 , 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by ISL

I think all traditional naija stews have this problem since they all contain sizable quantities of either palm oil or gra'nut oil...........I personally been using extra virgin olive oil in place of g-nut oil for about a year now.

And even then, I don't ever add more than one tablespoon full of stew to my rice........not a problem since I never eat more than one (cooked) cup of rice at a sitting anyway (one fistful for those more familiar with this form of measurement)..........

As far as I'm concerned, rice should serve as a side dish in a balanced meal, and not a main course like we've become accustomed to doing.

I usually fill the rest of my plate with some sort of low fat meat (grilled Chicken breast/lean beef/Salmon) and of course veggies...........so yeah you can still eat your ofada, moderation is the key.

That said, Ofada for this weekend sounds good!!

ISL

Keeps TWO fire extinguishers in his kitchen ever since the "oven fire" incidents a few years ago

Ajebota

Auspicious · Feb 23, 2008 , 12:11 AM

Dang im hungry all of a sudden.

Have a NICE weekend, Folks!

Logging Off..

Auspicious.

Jah Guda · Feb 23, 2008 , 01:22 PM

One of the findings of a research carried out last year to find out
why some men develop beer guts, or why some men have "big belle",
was that eating deep fried food, in our case stew, soup, dodo etc,
was more likely to give a man a beer gut than drinking beer.

La Nigeriana, you can say that again, sometimes it hurts.

calist · Feb 25, 2008 , 04:45 PM

Hint on bleaching palm oil, without having the roofs on fire.

a) Pour palm oil into a clean dry pot
b) Cover pot properly ie air tight mode
c) Cook under considerable heat. (Ensure you know the maximum number of minutes it would take to bleach the oil because pot should only be opened 10-15 minute after you have removed it from fire.
That way you have your oil bleached, environment friendly and cook’s health in check

Lingo · Feb 27, 2008 , 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by calist

Hint on bleaching palm oil, without having the roofs on fire.

a) Pour palm oil into a clean dry pot
b) Cover pot properly ie air tight mode
c) Cook under considerable heat. (Ensure you know the maximum number of minutes it would take to bleach the oil because pot should only be opened 10-15 minute after you have removed it from fire.
That way you have your oil bleached, environment friendly and cook’s health in check

Calist
Thanks for the advice. Wish I had this info last weekend before I almost brought my whole building down with the fumes from the palm oil. I was convinced an Environmental Officer would turn up at my door and arrest me for pollution.

Will try this next time.

calist · Feb 29, 2008 , 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by Lingo

Calist
Thanks for the advice. Wish I had this info last weekend before I almost brought my whole building down with the fumes from the palm oil. I was convinced an Environmental Officer would turn up at my door and arrest me for pollution.

Will try this next time.

Try it Lingo,

And you will be glad you did.