Okro soup with semovita (semo) is a staple in many African households, comfort food at its finest and let just say it's my favourite The rich, thick texture of the soup, paired with the smooth, stretchy semo, is like a hug from the inside. I’d seen it made a million times by my mom and aunties and even my grandma, but this was my first time trying to cook it myself. And let me tell you, it was not the smooth experience I envisioned, it was the definition of rough and tough.
It all started when I decided to step up to the plate and make something special. My grandma was not around and on a normal day, she used to cook the food and leave it in the cupboard for me but on that particular day, she didn't. I was thinking of what to eat and since I don't have much money with me and we have some ingredients I can use at home, I thought “Why not try cooking something classic, something that’ll make me feel like I’m really living the adult life, my favourite".
I have seen people cooking a lot of time which makes me think that it will be easy but damn, there was a lot to take in from adding the correct seasoning, the right cut of meat, boiling the fish just right, and don’t even get me started on the perfect okro slicing technique (because apparently, it’s a whole thing).
I thought, “Okay, I’ve got this.” Spoiler alert, I did not have it because I don't even know where to start for but I later started from somewhere.
I took the first step by started from boiling the meat and fish. It was all going according to plan, until I realized that I had underestimated how long it would take to cook the meat. I was hungry, impatient, and convinced my stomach was about to start a rebellion. So, I turned up the heat, thinking the meat would magically cook faster. In reality, it just started to burn on the bottom while still being raw in the middle. Not the start I was hoping for and to top it all, while trying to uncovered the pot, the napkin caught fire and I almost burn down the kitchen but God so good, I got it under control.
Next, I moved on to the okro. I sliced it like the way I usually saw people slicing it but then came the part I wasn’t prepared for, the slime. Okro is infamous for being slimy, but seeing that green goo slide out of the slices was like watching a science experiment gone wrong. I wasn’t sure if I was preparing soup or creating some sort of alien slime monster. But I powered through. After all, it’s supposed to be slimy, right?
When I finally got to the semo part, the real fun began. Even though I have watched people prepare it and they always said to stir constantly, but I didn’t realize how fast semo thickens. I started stirring like a maniac, thinking I was still in control, until it suddenly transformed into a brick. The texture went from smooth to cement, I’m pretty sure the spoon was in danger of snapping. I tried to salvage it by adding more water, but at that point, I wasn’t sure whether I had made semo or an oddly shaped building material.
Finally, when everything were done. I put the soup in a bowl, trying to act like everything was totally fine, and then I took a bite. The okro was perfect, well, at least it tasted like okro soup. The semo? Let’s just say it was a little too... solid. I could barely scoop it up without using a chisel.
But you know what? Despite all the mess and the minor disasters along the way, it wasn’t that bad. The soup had flavor, even if the semo was more like a workout than a meal, still I'm proud of it because that was my first time cooking and after all,I was just 12 then.
At the end of the day, I learned a valuable lesson from not giving up that cooking is a process, and sometimes it’s going to get messy. The first time might not be perfect (it might even be hilariously awkward), but at least you end up with food. .
Thanks for checking on my blog and have wonderful day