Okoho soup is one of the special delicacies of the Idoma speaking people, an ethno-linguistic group that primarily inhabits the lower Southern area of Benue State, and also dwells in Cross River and Nasarawa States. Abah Adah made some enquiries into this delicacy that over the years, has become a special recipe of the people for LEADERSHIP Friday:The Idoma language, from which the name Okoho emanates, is classified in the Akweya group of the Idomoid languages of Volta-Niger family.Although, best eaten with pounded yam (a smooth dough made by pounding cooked slices of Yam using mortar and pestle), Okoho soup is used to eat virtually all types of swallow foods known to be popular with inhabitants of West Africa which are usually made into dough from flours, granules, or mashes of usually dried or boiled cassava, yam, or grains.The soup is so named Okoho because it is obtained from a plant called Okoho in the area. Okoho plant (otherwise called olicho in some parts of Idoma land especially among the Edumoga people), is an herbaceous vine with an extensive stem that grows naturally as a wild plant in most parts of the Savanah belt, especially the North-central region. Botanically called Cissus Populnea and belong to the plant family, Amplicidaceae. It is also known as okoho by the Ibos and Igalas, while it is known as ajara or orogbulo among the Yoruba tribe, and dafara or lotutuwa in differnt parts of Northern Nigeria. In its early stage, the stem, which is the part used for the soup looks greenish and very tender, but it turns whitish grey at maturity when it is ready for use. The wild vine is available all year round, but much more harvested in the dry season, a phenomenon that can be attributed to the fact that the stem becomes fully ripe at that period and access to them in the bush becomes easier as a result of bush burning that gets rid of the thick bushes, thus providing leeway for hunters to comb such areas for games.Okoho soup is, is also known as draw soup, due to its drawy elastic slimy nature. It can be said to be the foremost in the class of draw soups that form part of the delicacies of the West African people. Other popular draw soups include: okra, ogbono, ewedu (common in south-west Nigeria), e.t.c. Okoho soup draws so much that eating it defies the modern eating habit of eating with spoon, fork and knife, including other table items. One must use the hand to be able to control the tenaciously flowing viscous so that it does not cling to the fingers and flow out of the plate at once. After dipping the swallow into it, the eater cuts up the drawing soup by pressing the thumb and the forefinger at the brim of the plate and then insert the immersed ball in the mouth for onward ingestion.Elder Igoche Onum, an idoma indigene resident in Gwagwalada Area of Abuja, told our reporter that ever since his childhood days, Okoho has remained his best soup, adding that each time he eats it, he feels very okay in his body system. My wife cooks often. She knows that I love the soup so much so that she always has it in stock. She normally has it sent to her from our family back home in Benue State or sometimes, she gets it from our local market here.One good thing about Okoho soup is that it does not only serve as a soup that goes with all manner of swallows, it is highly medicinal and also aids digestion such that anyone who suffers constipation, can eat it and get relief thereafter, he explained.Mrs Maria Agaba, a resident of Mararaba in Nasarawa State, while explaining how Okoho is prepared said. To cook the soup, you have to get the Okoho stem first. And as is the case with all kinds of cooking, there are items and ingredients to use. They include dried fish, preferably dried catfish, pepper, preferably fresh one, locust beans (ugba, also called dawadawa and iru in parts of the country) and/ maggi for seasoning, onions, crayfish, melon seeds (egusi), salt, and, if available, bush meat or beef, or any other kind of meat. The quantity or size of each depends on the quantity of the soup.To start, peel of the powdery white-grey outermost layer of the cut-to-size okoho stem into very thin strands, wrap into a bunch and leave inside a sizeable bowl of hot water to soak for about 15 to 20 minutes. After the water has simmered a bit, so that it will not hurt your hand, start squeezing and kneading it until you achieve a very thick drawy solution (viscous). Then remove the strands and keep the viscous for the final stage.By this time, your cooking pot with required quantity of water, should be placed on fire with some ingredients such as meat, onions, salt, and pepper added.When halfway cooked, the remaining items-the locust beans and crayfish, and the egusi could be added and then, you add palm oil and little water intermittently, kneading the ensuing mass to a smooth thick paste. You may also season it with ingredients lightly. Make the paste into small balls with hand drop in the broth in the pot, and cover to cook on for about 20 minutes when the balls are firm to touch. Finally, remove the meat and egusi balls and pour the Okoho soup already prepared and kept to cook on while stirring it for about 10 minutes, then put back the meat and egusi balls. Okoho soup is ready to be eaten with pounded yam or any other swallow. She said.In addition to its nutritional and medicinal values, it was gathered that there is also a business dimension to it. Mr Paul Onoja, a resident of Otukpo, the foremost Idoma town, while speaking to our reporter on telephone, said he has been into the business for over five years.I supply the Okoho sticks in bundles to my customers at Mile 12 market in Lagos and Gwagwalada in Abuja almost on a monthly basis, he said.
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