Ayamase is an increasingly popular Nigeria stew. It’s such a hit at parties and gatherings, you’ll be swooned at the first try. Ayamase is very easy to prepare, even you would be shocked to discover just how easy it is.
Like my Buka Stew recipe, click HERE for the recipe, I’ll be roasting my peppers for added flavour. There’s just something about using roasted peppers for stews and soups, they turn out extra flavourful. Roasting your peppers also cancels out the need for pre-boiling your pepper before frying as this process dries out the moisture. Roasting also makes blending easy, you wont need to add water when blending.
I should also state that I am not an advocate for overly bleaching Palm Oil to the point where it begins to look like clear vegetable oil, I had a really bad accident while bleaching Palm Oil in 2010, my kitchen was badly charred, I’ve since sworn off it. If you feel the need to, please feel free to do so. Truth be told, I’m yet to see a difference between heavily bleached and moderately bleached palm oil in Ayamase.
So, let’s get started…
Ingredients:
6 Green Bell Peppers (Green Tatashe)
3-4 Scotch bonnet (Ata Rodo)
1 Big Red Onion Chopped
Palm Oil ( Not specified cos you’ll be frying the meats with it as well)
1 Cup Chicken or Beef Stock (optional)
4 Cups Boiled Assorted Meats( cut into bite size chunks)
2 Heaped Tablespoons Locust Beans (Iru)
1 Cup Shredded Boiled Stockfish (Panla)
2 Tablespoons Dried Crayfish
2 knorr Chicken Cubes or your preferred bullion cube
Salt to taste
Method:
If you’ll be roasting your peppers, do so by placing them on a foil tray or roasting tray, place in a preheated oven, 200 degrees and roast them for about 45 minutes. When they’re roasted, blend coarsely and set aside. I haven’t got the roasted peppers photo but do click HERE to have an idea if you’re interested…
Place a big pot on a hob on medium heat, pour in palm oil, enough quantity to fry your meats. Leave to bleach for 15-10 minutes thereabouts, when the oil is bleached, pour in your meats and fry till slightly crisp. When they’re all fried, scoop out the meat and side aside.
Now you need at least a cup of Palm oil. Use the same Palm oil used for frying the meats. If you’ve got up to a cup, that’s fine if not, add more. Leave the pot on the hob.
Forgot to show you earlier, this is how my bleached oil looks for Ayamase, I only ever bleach for 15-20 minutes…..
Add the onions. Sauté till fragrant…
Now add the locust beans(Iru), sauté till it releases its flavour and aroma….
Now add the crayfish, be careful not to add too much so it doesn’t overpower the authentic Ayamashe aroma, also add the shredded Stockfish…
I added a little bit of palm oil as I noticed the earlier quantity wouldn’t be enough, hence the darker colour…
Fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the blended green pepper…
Stir to combine, add the knorr cubes and salt to taste. Be careful not to add too much seasoning as you’ll be adding stock later on…
Now cover and let this fry till oil floats to the top. Do check every now and then to prevent burning.
When oil flows to the top as pictured below…
Now add the fried meats, combine….
Now add the eggs …
You can add the stock if you find the consistency too thick as palm oil has a tendency to thicken soups up. Cook for a further 8-10 minutes.
Switch off the heat and let it simmer with the residual heat, at this time, the oil will float to the top. And it’s done..
Serve with Ofada rice or any kind of cooked white rice, fried plantain or even yam….
When roasting the peppers is the temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius?
hi I was wondering do you boil your meat first or just fry it from raw I would I would love to make some of your recipes for Christmas
Boil your meat first with onions and seasoning.
Hi sisi, this was da bomb! I love all your recipes. You have made me a great iya alase in my home. God bless you real good.????
LOL! Glad you find my recipes useful…x
Sisi Jemimah, I was wondering why Nigerians bleach palm oil before using it to cook. I’m Ghanaian and i’m hoping you would explain. Thanks
Dont know how to explain this but ill try. Regular palm oil is a tad too thick for some stew consistencies hence the need to bleach/ thoroughly dissolve first. Bleached palm oil also has it’s own distinct flavor which enhances certain stew types..
Thank you so much babes my Ayamase is on point. (Hugs and kisses)
You’re very welcome, glad you liked it….xx
Thank u sisi, for the ayamase ofada stew I want to kno if the green bell pepper is the Same as tatase. My cooker doesn’t have an oven how do i burn d pepper can I use microwave
Yes, it’s Tatashe. You can use a barbecue grill or skip it altogether…
Hello sisI Jemimah! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes.For this ofada stew,can it be done without Iru .would it sill come out nice?
And also I wanted to ask if you wouldnt mind doing youtube videos for all these sumptous recipes,I think it would be nice
I followed the recipe and when I was done, the ofada stew was bitter- I have no clue how that happened. was it frying the locust beans or roasting the bell pepper? pls help
You probably fried your locust beans for too long, roasted peppers shouldn’t taste bitter unless you accidentally burnt them….
Hi Sisi Jemiah i would just like to know where i get the stock from. is it from boiling the meat before its fried?
Yes, from boiling meats….
Hi Sisi Jemimah, stumbled on your blog a couple of days back and must confess that you’re doing an awesome job. You seem to have recipes for everything food. Lol! Please keep it up. However, 2 things;1- the igbo name for locust beans is ‘ogiri’. Dawadawa is hausa. 2- I want to try out the ofada sauce this weekend but I need to be pretty sure of the green bell pepper you mean. You confirmed that the green pepper you mean is the one used for fried rice but I think that will give it a kind of continental dish taste. So kindly confirm again; between unripe tatashe and green pepper. Also, can unripe scotch bonnet pepper be used in place of the red one? Look forward to your response. Thanks!
Hi, thanks for stopping by and the lovely comment. Ogiri is not locust beans, they are similar but different. Ogiri can’t be used for this recipe. The Green pepper is the same used for fried rice; Unripe red bell pepper is the same as green bell pepper. Yes, you can use unripe scotch bonnet (green)… Hope this helps.
Hi sisi, thank youuuuuuuu for sharing, no one has ever died from sharing recipes, I totally appreciate, I’ve learnt ayamase, ata dindin and I got it right for d first time, now I need EwA agoin stew plssssssssss… Tnx
I really don’t know why I’ve only just seen your comment. I’m so so sorry for the late response. Thanks so much for the lovely feedback, it’s really appreciated. I’ve got Ewa Agyin recipe on the blog already….X
Sisi Jemimah, Thank you for these wonderful recipes. I just stumbled on your site today and I’m already sold. Keep up the good work. Could you please help me with a week long food “time-table” like we call it. I sometimes run out of ideas and I would like to incorporate more variety into my family meals. Thank you in advance.
I’m sorry I’ve only just seen your comment. I had a problem with notifications a while back. I’ll work on the timetable and put one up ASAP. Thanks so much for stopping by and you’re very welcome….
Hi there
I am definitely making this recipe tomorrow
Can i ask you lovely lady, when you cook your meats ( chicken, beef, shaki, ponmo, cow leg etc) for soups or stews, what do you use to spice them so I mean when you boil meats for Ayamase stew, do you use a lot of seasoning and if yes what type.
Thanks in advance
Hi, thanks for stopping. When seasoning meats for Palm oil base soups and stews, all I use are Onions, Knorr Chicken cubes, Aromat seasoning and Salt. For vegetable oil based stews, I use same but also add Thyme and Curry. Thyme and Curry interfere with the taste of palm oil when added to traditional/native soups hence the exclusion. Hope this helps….
Sisi jemimah,should d pot be covered when bleaching d oil and how do I get pepper seeds for ewa agonyi stew,thanks
If you’re bleaching on very low heat, you can cover the pot but not for high heat. Pepper seeds are very popular and are available in most grocery stores…..
I think the secret to the bleaching is putting it on very low heat while you’re gathering ingredients to get started. By the time you need to use the oil, it will be done. I never open the pot to even check the status until I am ready. Another tip is to bleach enough for about 4 or 5 cookings, take what you need and store the rest.
That’s exactly what I do now, Dee. Bleach on low heat for 30-45 minutes and don’t lift the lid till its cooled down. I hardly promote extreme bleaching cos some people still get it wrong and mistakes can be very disastrous.
Thanks for the recipe. dont i need to add tomatoes?
No you don’t….
How do I roast my pepper! I don’t have oven!
I almost burnt the house while bleaching the palm oil. Egbami o. It wasn’t just me then. But it turned out well so spicy though.
LOL! Story of my life, though I did end up burning my kitchen. Glad it turned out well in the end. Thanks for the lovely feedback..
Loving what I see…..would most definitely this weekend….thanks for the recipe.
Please do Ann, you’ll enjoy it….
pls i need recipe for cake
Cake recipe coming soon….
I think it is really nice u r doing this always wondered how a lot of these meals are cooked unfortunately I am meant to be on a weight control cruise drive so I will be missing all these lovely meals but if you do have recipes for weight watchers or u know of a blog that has this for Nigerians oh PS let us know thank u and well done I will still subs done anyway just to support you…..BigBamo.
Yes I did, taste delicious and it remind me of mama Kafila at the junction while I was young. The smell of her food always makes me and my siblings not want to eat our lunch. But we must not dare go buy or else u are dead if mumsy catch u. My whole house turned to mama Kafila buka and hubby was asking for more. Kudos sisi jemilah. More food recipes please. And in case I don’t have dry pepper for the ewa aganyin what can I use? Thanks
LOL! Thanks for the hilariously amazing feedback. Glad you loved it. For Ewa Agoyin, you can use red chilli flakes….
tanx for d ofada stew it was yummy
Yay! I’m glad you loved it and thanks for the lovely feedback…..
I will try this out and will post the result here..
Sorry for the late response, don’t know how I missed this. Hope it turned out well, if you’ve already tried it….
Haa, you re real blessing, I tried ur ayamase recipe really nice. My kids love it.
Only just seen your comment, I’m so so sorry. I’m glad you loved the recipe, thanks so much for posting a feedback, really appreciate this….
Tolulope
Am blessed, will be a frequent guest on your blog, I love cooking and trying out new things….I love you ooo
Just seen your comment…Thank you and love you too…..☺️
Thank u sisi j for all.ur amazing wishing u more success as u help us God shall always see u thru tnx.
So sorry, just seeing this comment, Amen and God bless you…….
Thank you for all this eye opening recipes
You’re very welcome, Linda….☺️
Sisi Jemimah, ore mi alaponle…. I’m loving yr recipes…. Im sure wise married women will take a cue and start spicing things up in the kitchen…. Thanks a lot
Olabisi, ore mi alasiri….??? thanks sweetie, God bless you for the kind words…?
Tnx for the recipe will try it,bt Whts the locustbeans in Igbo and I need the pic pls.tnx once again
You’re welcome…Locust beans is Dawadawa in Igbo. There’s no way of showing a photo I’m afraid but you can use Google images….
thanks a lot…please what is the igbo name for locust beans?
Hi Floxy, Locust bean is Dawadawa in Igbo….
Thank you for d recipe. #Godbless
You’re welcome and Amen! God bless you too…
You rock girl.
Thanks Ify and thanks for stopping dearie…:)
Thanks a lot for this lovely recipe. I’ve also tried your party jollof rice and the result was quite amazing! Now, I’d like to ask if the green pepper for this sauce is the same one used for fried rice or do you mean unripe tatashe? Also, can we blend some tomatoes with the pepper? Thank you.
Hi, yay and thanks for the feedback on the jollof rice, appreciate. Yeah, the green pepper is the same used for fried rice. Ayamase does not require tomatoes at all, so don’t use any…
Thanks for your quick response. Will def try this out. God bless.
Tnx sis, u doing a great job l must confess
Thank you very much…:)
Oh gracious lawd! That looks amazing. Trying it out tonigot. Thanks for sharing Sisi Jemimah……
Thanks and you’re very welcome. Let’s know how you get on….
You’re so beautiful
Thank you…*blushing*