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Efo Riro

Efo Riro is a traditional Nigerian recipe for classic stew of mixed beef meats and pumpkin leaves in a palm oil, red bell pepper and scotch bonnet base flavoured with iru, crayfish and stockfish. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Efo Riro.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

60 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Spice RecipesBeef RecipesNigeria Recipes

In Nigerian stores you can often buy ready-mixed bags of frozen beef (typically shin), beef tripe and pomno (cow skin) which is ready for defrosting and preparing Efo Riro. Though you will find many recipes on the internet using spinach, traditionally, ugwu (also known as ugu, a type of pumpkin leaf) is used. Soko can be substituted, but if you're desperate you can use spinach. If using spinach, make sure to blanch it then wring out as much of the water as you can before chopping and adding. The use of tomatoes is a big no-no and the red bell peppers and scotch bonnet chillies along with the red palm oil will provide all the flavour you need. The traditional seasoning is iru, fermented locust beans. This does smell very strong when you sniff it. However, it's packed full of umami and the aroma mellows a lot when its cooked... so stick with it. Note that the larger the variety of meats you use, the better the flavour will be. My wife always adds a little liver in along with the shin, tripe (and offal) and cow skin. Note that traditionally the meats are just added in to the stew with the other ingredients. Personally, I like to fry my meats first, both to firm them up and also because the Maillard reaction of frying provides more flavour.

Efo Riro is a staple and favourite of Yoruba cookery, but it's also prepared in Igbo households to.

Ingredients:

3 large red bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 large red scotch bonnet chillies (tatashe), coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
60ml red Palm oil
2 tablespoons smoked and dried crayfish blended to a pwoder
2 tbsp ground iru (fermented locust bean)
1 stock cube
sea salt, to taste
675g ugu or spinach, blanched and wrung dry
125ml dried stockfish, shredded
1 handful of dried prawns
1 medium red onion, diced
500g Beef (a mixture of shin, Tripe, and cow Skin)

Method:

Add a little oil to a pan and use to fry the mixed meats for about 10 minutes, until nicely coloured. Turn the meats out onto a plate and set aside (note that this step is not traditional but does improve the flavour and texture of the dish).

In the meantime, combine the bell peppers, chillies and onion in a blender. Add a splash of water and render to a smooth paste.

Place a pan over medium heat. Once hot add the red palm oil then add the diced onion and stir-fry for about 6 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the blended mixture and fry, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens (about 15 minutes).

At this point stir in the crayfish, iru, stock cube and season with salt to taste. Stir the ingredients until everything is well blended. Now add in the meat, stockfish, dried prawns then add a little water to thin the sauce. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer.

Now add in your choice of greens and mix well to combine. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 5-8 minutes, until the greens are tender.

Serve hot.