Recipes For Preparing Cotton Seed Soup, The Ondo State Liquid Dish

Obe Koowu, as Cotton seed soup is known in Yoruba, is largely eaten by the Ondo, Owo people. It may be shocking and surprising that we are talking about the very same cotton used in cleansing the face (cotton wool) and sewing clothes. It is not the wool, however, but the seed that is cooked and the water extract from the seed that is used in making the soup.
Cotton seed soup is healthy, nutritious, easy to cook and very delicious. The Cotton Seed produces oil and some of the numerous benefits include its ability to lower cholesterol, protect the skin, improve the immune system, reduce inflammation, speed healing, boost cognition, and even help prevent certain types of cancer. So, if you are considering cooking the Cotton seed soup, you are doing yourself a huge favour.Recipes For Preparing Cotton Seed Soup, The Ondo State Liquid Dish
Usually, everyone has their ways of doing things, including cooking soups and dishes. Practices, experiments and continuous cooking are the key tools that help people explore different methods of cooking and so, for the Cotton seed soup, there are surely various recipes, depending on how you want it to taste. The basic difference are usually the ingredients used, added or subtracted from the list. For today, we will be dishing out 2 slightly different recipes you can try your hands on for the Cotton seed soup.
Recipe 1:
Ingredients:
1 small size smoked fish, bush meat, crayfish (ground), palm fruits, cotton seed, fermented locust bean (iru), spinach, fresh tomato (ground), onion bulb (ground), dried pepper (ground), seasoning cubes and salt to taste.
How to make:
1. Wash the palm fruit and boil with water till the fruits are soft. Pound and mix the fruits with warm water then strain to get oily extract.
2. Pound or grind the cotton seed until well blended. Pour in hot water and mix. Sieve the pounded cotton seed 2-3 times.
3. Put the oily extract in a pot and put on fire to boil. Add in the cotton seed extract and boil till the foam disappears.
4. Add in the washed smoked fish, bush meat, crayfish, tomato, onion, locust bean, pepper, and seasoning cube. Stir and allow to boil for about 20 – 30 minutes.
5. Pick, wash, shred and add in the spinach, then add salt to taste. Let the soup simmer for few minutes, then remove from heat. Your cotton seed soup is ready.Recipes For Preparing Cotton Seed Soup, The Ondo State Liquid Dish
Recipe 2
Ingredients: cotton seeds, crayfish, scent leaves, pepper, tomato (just 1), onions, okporoko (stock fish), shrimps, periwinkles, smoked fish, cow skin (ponmo), fish, meat, palm oil, seasoning cubes and salt to taste.
How to make:
1. If you are making the soup the next day, you may soak the cotton seed overnight to remove the dirts or cotton wool that may be attached. If not, boiling the seeds will just do, so put the seeds in water and bring to boil to soften. Sieve and wash with ordinary water and set aside.
2. Boil your meat, wash and dice your cow skin and set aside
3. Blend the cotton seeds with a blender (add enough water), then sieve to remove the threads or cotton wools that may be left in the seed. Press the chaff well to extract the water totally then set the extract on fire to boil till the foam vanishes and dispose the chaff. While the cotton seed extract is boiling, blend the pepper, tomato and onion and crayfish together then set aside.
Read also: How To Make Afang Soup, The Native South South Dish
4. When the cotton seed extract boils, pour in the blended pepper, tomatoes, onion and crayfish then leave to boil for some more time.
5. Add in the stock fish, diced cow skin and little palm oil (the cotton seed has its oil, so you need no much extra oil) and leave to boil for about 5minutes. As you wait pick, wash and slice the scent leaves then set aside.
6. By now, the cotton seed soup must have thickened. Finally, add in the washed periwinkle and shrimps, smoked fish, the scent leaves. Add in salt and seasoning for taste and taste. If okay, leave to boil for 3 minute more and yay, serve your cotton seed soup. Eat with any swallow of your choice.
Tips: When you are buying the seed at the market, ensure you get the ones that has the cotton wools stripped off already. It just makes cooking easier for you. When blending the cotton seed, ensure you add in enough water as the soup is usually very thick.
Recipes For Preparing Cotton Seed Soup, The Ondo State Liquid Dish
Photos Credit: Getty

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