July is a always a cold and rainy month in Africa, West Africa and Nigeria as a whole, especially those dwelling in the coastal region usually witness lots of rainfall during the month. The rain poured cats and dogs that I contemplated skipping work for the day except that my soldiers won't allow me, they love to go to school. I was so cold that I had to put on a sweater to avoid consequences.
It's a Friday night, I should say thank God it's Friday....and since one wouldn't be in any kind of rush I would have some ample time to rest my head with long hours of sleep. But for the night, to keep warm, we had to eat the Igbo|African Yam-pepper soup. It's a traditional way of staying warm through food. I had to take on the kitchen roles tonight.
I am not a foodie but love to prepare delicious meals. And not to be taken aback, I do lot more than cooking Nigerian meals.
Now, the recipe for this meal (Yam peppersoup) are as follows:
•Yam tuber
•Unripe plantain (optional)
•Scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum)
•Pepper
•Salt
•Crayfish (whole or ground)
•Uziza seeds (Piper guineense)
That's how the uziza seeds looks like. Some people refer to it as black pepper.
•Ginger
• Fish or meat (matter of choice)
• Onions
To the kitchen guys
Peel the yam and plantain. Rinse after wards and set it on fire in a clear pot of course. This must have been after all the listed recipe are set or available.
When the yam/plantain begins to steam that's about five meeting, add the uziza matched seeds plus pepper as much as you are comfortable with. The essence of this meal to keep you warm and the pepper level is a good determinant.
The major reason for adding plantain to this meal is because of it nutritional value, iron. Many people would always like to eat a ripe plantain which gives carbohydrate and ends in glycogen or glycerol, which also comes from most of the food we eat, especially as Africans. I have come to notice that unripe plantain is of high nutritional value and helps build the immune system.
For today, I prefer to use freshwater silver catfish. The taste is unique and different. You have to clean it up with warm water because the skin accumulates first easy. After properly cleaning the fish, add it to the already steaming yam|plantain with pepper and uziza and cover for it to steam.
Please, note that you do not add oil (palm or vegetable oil) in the meal.
After about eight to ten minutes when this is cooked, the last thing to be added is the scent leaf. This leaf is highly medicinal.
A few minutes later, we are served the food. I sweat under the cold condition and enjoyed the meal. The weekend has started on a very good note. We wait for what tomorrow brings.
One thing I want to leave you with is that the plantain and yam peels are not a waste. In my subsequent post here on #Theweekend I will share some revelations why you shouldn't throw them away after eating the edible parts.
It's another weekend guys, thanks to 
