Reterdeen Staff
Jute leaves is the English name for the popular Yoruba soup known as Ewedu. You don’t need to live in the south western region of Nigeria for more than a year to know how important ewedu is to the typical Yoruba man.
The ewedu leaf itself has several health benefits making the Yoruba favorite stew one of the most valued Nigerian recipes. It helps the immune system, keeps the skin radiant and even helps pregnant women to ease the burden of labour. Another reason it remains a great Nigerian recipe to be prepared.
Ewedu soup is most times taken together with round ‘swallow’ food like amala, semovita or eba(garri) and it can also be taken alone as a form of medicinal juice. There are different forms of cooking ewedu. The ewedu alasepo and ewedu elegusi are the common types in the Nigerian ewedu recipe.
If you are in a relationship with a Yoruba man/woman, a vegetarian, or you need this recipe for its medicinal use, here is a simple process of preparing ewedu soup in just 20minutes.
There are 2 ways of making ewedu soup – the traditional method and the modern method. The ‘ijabe’, a type of blunt broom is used to mash the ewedu in the traditional method while a blender is used to achieve the same feat in the modern method.
Ingredients:
1. Ewedu leaves: amount varies depending on the number of people you are cooking it for.
2. A little lake salt/potash popularly called ‘Kaun’ in Yoruba language
3. Locust beans(iru)
4. Salt to taste.
5. ½ cube of seasoning cube.
Preparation:
1. Pluck the ewedu leaves from the stalk but make sure the stem is not plucked together with it. After this, you wash the leaves thoroughly to get rid of sand or small stones. [5minutes]
2. Pour water into a pot and add the lake salt to it, then place the pot on the cooker and allow it to simmer. [3minutes]
3. Pour the washed ewedu leaves into the cooking pot making sure that the lid is removed. [7minutes]
4. After 7 minutes, the ewedu leaves would have be slime and soft, ready to be mashed or blended depending on the method you wish to use. The modern method is faster. [2minutes]
5. Add salt and seasoning cube to taste.
That’s it! Your Nigerian recipe is ready, dish with stew and amala for maximum satisfaction!
Enjoy.
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