My Seafood efo riro recipe is easy to throw together in one pot and tastes delicious.
Efo riro is a Yoruba phrase that translates to “stirred leafy vegetables” in English. This Nigerian vegetable soup comprises one or two leafy vegetables stewed in a pepper and onion sauce with traditional condiments (e.g fermented locust beans etc) and assorted meats or/and fish. Seafood efo riro is a great way to get some healthy greens in the diet, plus it has incredible flavours with different layers of textures, making it a joy to eat.
Versatile efo riro is one of the Nigerian soups you can eat with anything. It is great with traditional “swallows” like eba, amala, fufu, semovita and iyan; it also pairs well with other foods like rice, yam, asaro and plantain.
Seafood Efo Riro Recipe
Here are the ingredients you need to make efo riro…
- Dried fish (Shawa/Bonga)
- Red bell pepper
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Onion
- Palm oil
- Fermented locust beans
- Bouillon cubes
- Collard Greens
- Ground crayfish
- Smoked haddock
- Spinach
- Mixed Seafood
- Salt
A few notes about the ingredients...
- Leafy green vegetables: Traditionally, local vegetables like soko, (Nigerian spinach), tete (African spinach, callaloo),efo igbo (African eggplant leaves), ugwu (fluted pumpkin leaves) etc. are used to make efo riro. For people outside Nigeria who do not have access to these vegetables, spinach, kale and collard greens are suitable substitutes. I used spinach and collard greens for this efo riro recipe, another time, it could be spinach or kale, depending on what I have on hand or is growing in my garden at the time. You can also use frozen spinach – this is great for a quick pot of efo riro as you just need to defrost in a microwave, squeeze out the excess liquid and add into the pot.
- Added Protein: Efo riro can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. You can whip a nutritious and tasty pot of vegetable soup by just adding smoked fish as protein. Or you can take it up a notch and add your favourite meat or fish. Goat meat, assorted meats, smoked turkey, stock fish, smoked mackerel, and dried prawns work very well with this soup. You can also make it suitable for vegetarians by not adding any meats or fish.
- Locust beans: Fermented locust beans is needed to balance the flavours of efo riro, I would recommend not omitting this condiment. Fresh locust beans can be substituted with dry locust beans.
How To Make It...
Soak the dried fish in water for a few hours before cooking.
Wash the spinach and collard greens a few times in a bowl to eliminate sand and dirt. Remove the thick stalk from the collard greens. Slice the two vegetables thinly.
Wash the locust beans and keep to one side. Chop one onion and keep aside too.
Wash the peppers and remove the stalk. Blend the remaining onion with the bell peppers and scotch bonnet peppers coarsely in a food processor.
Pour the palm oil into a pan and heat for 30 secs, then add the chopped onions. Cook until the onions begin to brown.
Add the locust beans.
Stir for around 2 mins, then add the blended pepper and onion mix. Add the bouillon cubes and soaked dried fish into the pot. Cover and leave to simmer under medium heat for at least 30 mins, stirring occasionally. At the end of this, you will have a fried stew.
Add the smoked haddock, ground crayfish and some salt into the sauce, then mix in the sliced collard greens.
Cover the pan and leave to cook for 10 mins.
Add the spinach and the mixed Seafood.
Place the lid over the pan again and leave to cook for at 5 mins. Mix well with a wooden spoon and taste for salt. Add more if needed, then close the pan and simmer for 5 more mins.
Remove from heat and serve.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, Indeed. Cooking efo riro with or without tomatoes is a matter of preference. I do both, depending on what I’m starting with. For example, if I’m using an already blended pepper mix from the freezer, then this will already have tomatoes blended in. However, if I’m blending pepper mix just for the efo riro, I won’t add tomatoes.
Efo riro can last many weeks in the freezer and about a week in the fridge. In fact, it makes more sense to make more than you need at a time, then keep a portion in the fridge and another portion in the freezer.
Related Recipes
How to make Nigerian pepper stew base which you can use to make this soup
Other Nigerian soups you must try...
Ugba (African oil bean seed) soup
Seafood Efo Riro
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dried fish (shawa)
- 2 Red bell peppers
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 Onions
- ¼ cup Palm oil
- 1 tablespoon Fermented locust beans
- 2 Bouillon cubes
- 500 g Spinach
- 300 g Collard Greens
- 2 tablespoons Ground crayfish
- 2 fillets Smoked haddock
- 1 cup Mixed Seafood
- Salt
Instructions
- Soak the dried fish in water for a few hours before cooking.
- Wash the spinach and collard greens a few times in a bowl to eliminate sand and dirt. Remove the thick stalk from the collard greens. Slice the two vegetables thinly.
- Wash the locust beans and keep to one side. Chop one onion and keep aside too.
- Wash the peppers and remove the stalk. Blend the remaining onion with the bell peppers and scotch bonnet peppers coarsely in a food processor.
- Pour the palm oil into a pan and heat for 30 secs, then add the chopped onions. Cook until the onions begin to brown, then add the locust beans.
- Stir for around 2 mins, then add the blended pepper and onion mix. Add the bouillon cubes and soaked dried fish into the pot. Cover and leave to simmer under medium heat for at least 30 mins, stirring occasionally.
- Add the smoked haddock, ground crayfish and some salt into the sauce, then mix in the sliced collard greens. Cover the pan and leave to cook for 10 mins before adding the spinach and the mixed Seafood.
- Place the lid over the pan again and leave to cook for at 5 mins. Mix well with a wooden spoon and taste for salt. Add more if needed, then close the pan and simmer for 5 more mins.
- Remove from heat and serve.
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