So, yes you like your okra and you can cook it both ways – plain or ‘jollofed’, aka alasepo style. When you want to take it up a notch, you add some flavors and ingredients from the sea like shrimps, king prawns, fish etc, that’s what we call the seafood okra. Okra whether as ila alasepo or plain is a flowering plant that is most highly prized because of its seed pods and its nutritional health benefits which are; to improve digestive health and vision, boost skin health, protect infant health, prevent certain cancers, and strengthen bones.
Below are other ways you can enjoy your okra if you don’t want to go the ila alasepo style or the upgrade which is seafood okra:
- COATED IN BATTER AND DEEP FRIED: Wait what? Yes, make batter of corn starch and egg and season with your salt, pepper and any other spices you’d like in your batter and fry till crispy brown.
- RAW: Pluck okra raw, slice length ways and sprinkle salt and pepper, and enjoy the crunch!
- STUFFED WITH OTHER VEGETABLES: Slice your okra and stuff with your choice of spiced favourite vegetables/protein and roast
- AS ‘COFFEE’: For this, okras are dried out and the seeds roasted, then ground and percolated. Here’s how: * https://oureverydaylife.com/how-to-make-okra-coffee-12542077.html *
- THE LIBERIAN ‘BITTER BALL SOUP’ WAY: For this, garden eggs are sliced along with the okras and then fried and made into a stew with all the trimmings.
- AS FRIED STEW: This Is almost like the previous recipe, except this doesn’t include the garden eggs
- AS A THICKENER: Ground okra is an excellent thickener. It is key ingredient used in preparing Louisiana’s signature dish – gumbo
- SPICED AND OVEN ROASTED: chop off the head and tail, shake your spices over it and chuck in the oven till they’re nicely done
- AS SALADS: you can have this oven roasted and included in a potato/okra salad, as a corn/vegetable salad, or any other salads you like with your choice of dressing
- PICKLED: Picklingis the process of preserving or expanding the lifespan of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar and flavoured with salt sugar and any selection of spices based on personal choice or to a recipe!
Which of the above would you like to try? Also read our article “ BEYOND THE SLIME: INTERESTING” to know more about Okra
