Ikokore

Name: Ikokore
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 800 g water yam (isu ewura) (peeled weight; not ordinary white yam or sweet potato); 350 g boneless stewing beef (cut into small pieces); 1 litre water (for initial beef cooking and broth); 500 ml additional hot water (as needed to maintain broth); 150 g smoked fish flesh (carefully deboned); 200 g red bell pepper (seeded); 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (stalk removed); 100 g onion (half for beef, half for blending); 75 ml red palm oil; 2 tbsp ground dried crayfish; 1 tbsp iru (optional); 1 tsp fine salt (divided)

Grated water yam sets into soft dumplings in a peppery palm-oil broth with beef and smoked fish. Ikokore is strongly associated with the Ijebu people of Ogun State. Its defining transformation happens in the pot: sticky grated water yam becomes soft pieces surrounded by thickened broth. Nigerian cooks describe eating it alone or with eba, particularly cooled eba, illustrating that the texture of the accompaniment matters as much as the sauce. Cultural context: An Ijebu preparation within Yoruba cuisine; distinct from cubed-white-yam asaro.

Ikokore with irregular water-yam dumplings, beef and smoked fish in orange-red palm-oil pottage

30 minPreparation

90 minCooking

6Servings

What you’ll need

6 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Simmer beef with half the onion, half the salt, and 1 litre water for 50–70 minutes until tender. Add hot water as needed so the meat remains covered.
2
Blend the peppers with the remaining onion. Stir into the beef pot with palm oil, crayfish, and optional iru; simmer for 10 minutes. Add the fish.
3
Meanwhile, rinse the peeled water yam and grate it on the finest side of a grater to a sticky paste. Use a guard to protect your fingers. Mix in the remaining salt; do not dilute the paste.
4
Lift the meat and fish out with a slotted spoon. Measure the broth and top up with hot water to approximately 1 litre, then bring it back to a gentle simmer.
5
Drop heaped teaspoonfuls of yam paste into the broth, distributing them around the pot. Cover and simmer without stirring for 7–8 minutes so the pieces can set.
6
Return the meat and fish, fold gently once or twice, and simmer for another 7–10 minutes. Break open a dumpling to check that it is cooked through, not raw or chalky.
7
Add hot water in small splashes if the pottage is too stiff. Gently break a few pieces to thicken the surrounding broth, adjust salt, and serve hot.

A little kitchen wisdom

Some intact dumplings are desirable; constant early stirring makes the pot uniformly mushy. Raw water yam can irritate some skin; food-safe gloves may help during peeling. Timing: active preparation 30 min; cooking 90 min; additional passive time 0 min; conservative planning allowance 120 min. Some stages may overlap. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: Fish; Crustacean shellfish

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Ifokore, Water-yam pottage

An Ijebu preparation within Yoruba cuisine; distinct from cubed-white-yam asaro.

Allergens: Fish, Crustacean shellfish