Efo Riro (Nigerian Spinach Stew Recipe)
Ever wondered how to make efo riro? This delicious dish is filled with flavour! By combining tomatoes, spinach, meat, peppers, and fish, you’ll get a little bit of everything on your plate – and you’ll probably want to go for seconds!
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Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 1 can of plum tomatoes
- 1 red bell peppers aka tatashe pepper
- 1-2 scotch bonnets
- 1 onions
- ¼ - ¾ cup of chicken stock
- Salt to taste
- 1-2 chicken stock cubes knorr
- Precooked assorted meat beef, chicken, pomo etc (see notes)
- 4 bunches of red root spinach see notes
- ½ cup of shrimp
- ¼ cup of roasted macakrel
- Palm oil
Instructions
- In a blender, add 1-2 scotch bonnets, 1 red bell pepper, 1 large onion, and 1 can of plum tomatoes and blend together until thoroughly mixed.
- In a large saucepan, add palm oil to cover the base. Once the oil is hot, add iru, then pour in the blended tomato mixture and bring it to a boil. Add salt to taste, 1 maggi cube and stir. Let it cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes
- Then, add pre-cooked assorted meat (or any meat combination of your choice) to the stew and let it cook for 10-15 more minutes.
- Finally, add 4 bunches of spinach and lower the heat to a simmer. After 5 minutes add ½ a cup of shrimp and ¼ cup of roasted mackerel and let it all cook for another 7-10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Red root spinach - Use four bunches of fresh red root spinach. To prepare the spinach chop the spinach and remove the roots. Then, add spinach to a large bowl, rinse with cold water and transfer the spinach to another bowl. You should see some dirt at the bottom of the bowl. Make sure you wash the spinach thoroughly at least 3 times (it is important to wash the spinach because it can be quite dirty) . After washing the spinach pour boiling hot water over the spinach and drain after 5 minutes. The spinach is now ready to be added to the stew.
Assorted meat - Here are some additions that my family loves to add: chicken, beef, pomo and shaki. Whichever type of protein you choose, you want to make sure that your meat is soft and tender. The best way to do this is by precooking your proteins before you start cooking the stew. I normally wash the meat first, then par-boil it with salt, onions, thyme, and chicken stock cubes for flavor (optional). Then, I finish cooking the meat in the oven. Once the meat is fully cooked, it will be tender and deeply flavorful. At this point, you can stir it into your stew, along with the vegetables and other seasonings. You can also fry the meat after part boiling but this is less healthy.