Gbagbafofo is one of the native meals of the Itsekiri people. Itsekiri is a tribe in the Niger Delta Area. They are from Delta State, Nigeria. They are mostly from Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West. One of the occupation of the Itsekiri people is fishing. So most of the time, there are usually more than one kind of seafood in a meal just like this soup, Gbagbafofo means Okra Pepper Soup.
This meal is rich with several kinds of seafood from crab to periwinkle. There is no limit to what goes into this soup, whatever seafood you love will work perfectly.
I also used smoked ham, most people doesn’t use any meat product in theirs. I love pork, usually, I will use fresh pork that has been seasoned and steamed but at the time of making this recipe, we just purchased a huge smoked ham and wanted to use it whenever meat protein is called in any recipe.
Due to the saltiness of ham, you need to watch out for the amount of salt you add to the soup. In Most of my recipes, salt is added at the end because sometimes, some element used in making the recipe has salt in them, so adding salt last allows me to have full control of the total salt quantity in the meal. I also soaked the ham for a while, about 30 mins to 1 hours to kinda wash away some of the saltiness of the ham before adding it to the soup base.
This recipe really doesn’t have an exact measurement for ingredients (apart from the seasonings used for cooking the seafood) just like any typical Nigerian recipe lol but with this recipe, there are 2 things you can use to gauge the quantity of the soup and these are the okra and the water. The most important one is the okra, depending on the viscosity you want the okra (soup) to be (ie: the draw-ness of the okra soup). The more viscous you want the okra, the less water you use or the more okra you use.
When I wanted to make this meal, I consulted my mum and the major point she kept repeating was, use less water. If you want 4 litres of soup, start with 1.5 to 2 litres of water. I used about 4-6 cups of grated okra in this soup / recipe in total.
In a nutshell, use your okra quantity to determine the amount of water you will need in the soup. For example, if you have 2 cups of grated or chopped okra, then start with 1 cup of water. If soup is too viscous for you, you can always lighten it with water later.
Traditionally, this meal is eaten with starch made or gotten from cassava. Starch is made on stove top with 1 ratio of starch to 1.5 ratio of water (ie for every 1 cup of starch, you use 1.5 cup of water) and a few drops of palm oil to give it the famous yellow colour. Not everyone eats starch, so other forms of swallows (not the bird!) can be enjoyed with this meal from eba, fufu, semo, poundo, etc whatever swallow you enjoy will work perfectly with this meal.
This is one of the many meal that is indigenous to the Itsekiri people, my people, my tribe and I hope that in the future, I will be able to share more of our recipes and do great justice to them with the help of mum of course lol.
You shouldn’t be reserved in trying new recipes from other tribes and cultures. Be adventurous! Go, Explore!
With Love, B!
Gbagbafofo – Okra Pepper Soup and Starch
This is one of my tribe's native soup. Gbagbafofo is a Itsekiri word which means okra pepper soup. It is basically seafood pepper soup with added okra.
- Grater
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Seafood (Any combinations; crab, shrimps, clams, fish, octopus, periwinkle, etc)
- Pork / ham / beef / chicken / goat (optional – if raw, cook with salt and seasoning cube)
- Habanero pepper (Blend or chop. Can also use dried grind pepper.)
- Pepper soup spice (Ground)
- Okra (Grate or chopped)
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- 2 tsp Garlic powder or paste
- 2 tsp onion powder (Sub with small size onion – chopped)
- Seasoning cube
- Salt to taste
(If using any raw seafood (except fresh fish (clean and pour boiled water, allow to sit in the fish for 10 mins and discard the water and set aside) clean whatever raw seafood you are using and put in a pot, season with salt, seasoning cube, garlic, lemon juice (optional) onion powder, don’t add any water and allow to cook, half way through the cook, add raw shrimp if using any.) Don’t cook the periwinkle, they are usually pre-cooked.
Place a pot on medium heat then add water to the pot (the quantity of water will determine the quantity of the soup you will get. Also, the quantity of the okra will determine the amount of water. Always use half of the water you need because the okra will add volume to the soup, the less water the more viscous the okra soup will be). Also, if you need 4 litres of soup only use 2 litres of water).
Then add the blended pepper and pepper soup spices and allow to cook.
After about 10-15mins of cooking, stir and add the Ham (pork, beef, chicken, turkey, etc) and all the seafood you will be using. If the water dried a little while cooking during the first stage, you may replace/add the same quantity into the soup at this stage.
Add salt and seasoning cube to taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.
Now add the okra into the soup and stir until it is thoroughly combined.
Allow to cook for about 15 to 20 mins or till it is in the consistency you like, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Enjoy with any swallow such as starch, poundo, eba, etc.
With Love, B!
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @BawosKitchenJournal on Instagram and hashtag it #WithLoveBawo & #BawosKitchenJournal.
I like any soup with Okra
What a delicious recipe!