Small Chops

Ugba (Spiced Oil-Bean Salad)

Name: Ugba (Spiced Oil-Bean Salad)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 400 g ugba (commercially prepared, ready-to-eat fermented oil bean); 150 g ready-to-eat smoked fish (deboned); 100 ml red palm oil; 0.25 tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate); 60 ml warm water; 2 tbsp ground dried crayfish; 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (finely chopped); 0.5 tsp ogiri Igbo (commercially prepared; optional); 1 small red onion (thinly sliced); 20 g garden-egg leaves (washed and finely sliced); to taste salt

Fermented oil-bean shreds coated in a creamy palm-oil dressing with pepper and smoked fish. Ugba, also called ukpaka in some Igbo dialects, moves between roles: an ingredient in abacha, a flavouring in other dishes and a dish in its own right. Flo Chinyere presents a version centred on the oil bean. This preparation keeps that distinction clear by leaving cassava shreds out. Cultural context: Here ugba is the main dish, rather than a small addition to abacha. Ready-to-eat fermented oil beans are used; no home fermentation is attempted.

Ugba oil-bean salad with smoked-fish flakes, red onion and garden-egg leaf shreds

20 minPreparation

10 minCooking

4Servings

What you’ll need

4 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Drain the ready-to-eat ugba, following any package heating instructions. Check the fish carefully for bones.
2
Dissolve baking soda in the water. Put liquid palm oil in a bowl and beat in the solution a teaspoon at a time until it forms a creamy dressing.
3
Mix in crayfish, pepper and ogiri, followed by ugba and flaked fish.
4
Warm gently in a pan for 3–5 minutes, stirring, without frying. Adjust salt and serve immediately with onion and garden-egg leaves.

A little kitchen wisdom

Buy fermented oil bean from a reputable food supplier and keep refrigerated as directed. Baking soda is a documented practical alternative to culinary potash; do not use baking powder or homemade alkali. If the dressing remains loose, use it as it is rather than repeatedly adding more baking soda. Timing: active preparation 20 min; cooking 10 min; additional passive time 0 min; conservative planning allowance 30 min. Some stages may overlap. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: Fish; Crustaceans (crayfish); Oil beans are legumes; Check ogiri label

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Ukpaka, Spicy shredded oil bean

Here ugba is the main dish, rather than a small addition to abacha. Ready-to-eat fermented oil beans are used; no home fermentation is attempted.

Allergens: Fish, Crustaceans (crayfish), Oil beans are legumes, Check ogiri label