#FUFU AND OKRA SOUP HOW TO#
#FUFU AND OKRA SOUP FULL#

Especially when I'm introducing my vegan friends to fufu, they're … so in awe. Because I want you to be able to try different flavors. Like, if you come to Houston, you're going to eat a soup. You can't be my friend and not have a soup. How do people in your cooking classes generally respond to fufu? When I went to Nigeria and saw the actual fresh vegetable, I was like, “I prefer it dry.” Is it available here dried? Are you able to get it fresh?

And that's most of the Igbos, they eat bitter leaf soup. a little bit nauseous, my mom will make bitter leaf soup for them. It's a vegetable that's grown in West Africa. … Whenever you’re having any indigestion problems, bitter leaf soup is going to help you. And as I’ve gotten older, I'm like, “This is my comfort soup.” I love bitter leaf. Bitter leaf soup is the most medicinal vegetable soup that you can think of. I remember I couldn't even eat bitter leaf soup. … And they're like, “Oh, this is actually really good.”

#FUFU AND OKRA SOUP FULL#

And the native soups are really just full of flavor. As you begin to experience the different types of flavors, your taste palate tends to be more matured to actually have the native soup. Starter soups are usually the more user friendly, which are egusi, vegetable, and okra. But then I always say there are starter soups. It's interesting because I always ask them, “What vegetable are you familiar with?” And most people will gravitate to okra. Whenever I'm teaching my cooking class or explaining to them about eating fufu, I always say “Let's just start off as a small ball and then work ourselves up.”ĭo you watch obsessions being created in the moment when you see people experiencing it for the first time? But if it's okra soup, I have to chew, because I can't swallow okra. I grew up eating fufu, and I remember my mom hitting me saying, “Listen, you don't chew, you swallow.” So as I’ve gotten older, I'm so used to swallowing it because, depending on the soup, if it's like vegetable soup, I can swallow that.

This depends on your level and your comfort. Sometimes the ball is referred to as a “swallow.” Why is that? So depending on the soup, that gives you an idea of how big the fufu ball should be.ĭo people make an indentation in the ball? Some of the soups that are like egusi, which is blended melon seed, some people are able to just swallow that whole. Depending on the soup, if it's just straight okra soup, you're gonna have to chew okra. But as you begin to get comfortable with rolling fufu, people tend to just roll it with one hand. And if you're starting off, I would always say to roll it with two hands.

#FUFU AND OKRA SOUP HOW TO#

Inside our book, we have a page that teaches everyone how to roll fufu the correct way. Are there personalized moves that you make or different techniques? … So it's customary to offer any of your guests a basing full of water with soap and a napkin.įufu has a particular texture that makes it easier to turn into your own little scoop. So you always have to wash your hands because you touch so many things. And we always say your water is your cutlery, like you're using your hands, you can trust your hands when eating the food. The proper food etiquette when eating fufu is to wash your hands in a basin bowl. What’s the traditional setup that comes to the table when serving or eating fufu? So as a child, you are pretty much eating with your hands, which is fun. And most of the time, you can kind of tell who is not familiar with fufu if they bring out the cutlery to eat it. When you say vehicle, do you mean that it is used with your fingers instead of a utensil?Įxactly. … And the soup is, the majority of the time, vegan. And Liberia is known for their cassava soup. And it can stem from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, Liberia. Most of the time, all of our West African soups are tribal-based. It can be a vegetable from melon seed, mango seed, okazi, spinach, peanut soup. Fufu usually is eaten with a hearty vegetable soup. It’s usually pounded yam tuber, cassava, cocoyam, and I want to say oatmeal, which is considered wheat fufu. Kavachi Ukegbu: Fufu is usually the vehicle into the soup. KCRW: Can you describe fufu and its main components? The following has been edited for length and clarity. Ukegbu takes us inside the book and the origins, etiquette, and diverse range of soups surrounding fufu. “When you eat fufu and soup, you're stepping into history, experiencing a rich cultural heritage,” writes chef Kavachi Ukegbu in her new book “ The Art of Fufu.” Ukegbu’s family opened Safari, the first Nigerian restaurant in Houston, in 1996, and she has since gone on to found the culinary company and website Grubido, alongside teaching the world about the West African staple through her Art of Fufu project. Fufu is a dough-like starch staple across West African culture, personalized and woven into the lives and stories of families.

Fufu and okra soup