Efo Riro Recipe: Yoruba Spinach Stew in Pepper Sauce

Efo riro is a vegetable soup of the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria, made with leafy greens, red bell peppers, scotch bonnets, palm oil, crayfish, stockfish and meat (Wikipedia). This version cooks a coarse pepper blend down in palm oil with iru until thick, then adds boiled beef, tripe, cow skin, stockfish and smoked fish. Two pounds of spinach go in at the very end. The greens cook for a few minutes only, so they stay green.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 6

Difficulty: Medium | Calories: ~600 per serving

What Goes into Efo Riro?

The name tells you how it is made. Yummy Medley translates efo riro literally as “vegetable stir,” from efo, vegetable, and riro, stir (Yummy Medley). Low Carb Africa’s Tayo Oredola says it loosely means “stirred spinach” (Low Carb Africa).

In Nigeria the greens are local ones. Wikipedia names Celosia argentea (shoko yokoto) and Amaranthus hybridus (efo tete) as the two vegetables most often used (Wikipedia). Low Carb Africa calls them Lagos spinach and African spinach, and says any spinach greens will do outside Nigeria (Low Carb Africa). Sisi Jemimah’s written recipe uses ugwu leaves, with spinach or soko as alternatives (Sisi Jemimah). Supermarket spinach is used here because it is the easiest to find.

Iru is fermented locust beans, and fermentation gives it a pungent smell. Wikipedia says Yoruba cooks make two kinds: iru wooro, used mostly in vegetable soups such as efo riro, and iru pete, used for ewedu and egusi (Wikipedia). Yummy Medley notes that many Nigerians, especially in the diaspora, leave it out because of that odor (Yummy Medley). Sisi Jemimah gives it a minute in the hot oil to release its flavor before the pepper goes in (Sisi Jemimah).

Stockfish is unsalted fish, usually cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks. Wikipedia says it became popular in Nigeria after it arrived as food aid during the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s, and lists efo riro among the soups it flavors (Wikipedia). Buy pre-cut pieces; Sisi Jemimah lists hers as panla (Sisi Jemimah). They soften in the pot with the meat.

Do Tomatoes Belong in Efo Riro?

Cooks disagree. Sisi Jemimah calls tomatoes in efo riro “an absolute No No!” and uses only bell peppers and scotch bonnets (Sisi Jemimah). Yummy Medley blends 2 roma tomatoes into the base for a slightly sweet and sour note, while saying many native versions leave them out (Yummy Medley). Low Carb Africa also cooks a blended tomato and pepper mix in the oil (Low Carb Africa).

This recipe follows the no-tomato camp, like the video. Four red bell peppers give the base its color and a mild sweetness, and two scotch bonnets bring the heat. If you prefer some tang, replace one bell pepper with two roma tomatoes and fry the base 5 minutes longer, since tomatoes hold more water.

Keep the blend coarse. Pulse in short bursts and add no water, or at most 2 tablespoons to get the blades turning. A smooth purée spreads into a thin sauce; a grainy one clings to every leaf. For a milder pot, cut the seeds and white ribs out of the scotch bonnets before blending, or use just one.

How Do You Keep Efo Riro from Turning Watery?

Water is the main problem, and it comes from two places: the greens and the pepper.

Start with the greens. Sisi Jemimah warns that spinach must lose practically all its water before it goes in, or the stew turns limp and soggy (Sisi Jemimah). Low Carb Africa chops and rinses fresh spinach, squeezes out as much water as possible and leaves it in a colander to drain while the stew cooks (Low Carb Africa). Squeeze in fist-sized handfuls until only a few drops come out.

Then fry the pepper properly. Sisi Jemimah keeps hers frying for 15 to 20 minutes, until it dries out and shrinks by almost half (Sisi Jemimah). Scrape the bottom every couple of minutes, because the paste catches as it thickens. When it is ready, the paste looks jammy, a spoon drawn through it leaves a clear path, and orange-red oil pools at the edges.

Last, keep the greens brief. Add the cup of stock to the pepper base, not to the greens, and give the spinach only 2 to 3 minutes on the heat. Sisi Jemimah switches off the heat once the vegetables are in and lets the stored heat finish them for 5 more minutes (Sisi Jemimah). The leaves should be wilted but still bright, never olive-brown.

Ingredients for Efo Riro

For the Meats and Stock:

1 lb (450 g) beef or goat meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) cubes
1/2 lb (225 g) shaki (beef tripe), cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 lb (225 g) ponmo (cow skin), scraped clean and cut into strips
3 oz (85 g) stockfish pieces (panla)
1 small onion, sliced
2 seasoning cubes (Maggi or Knorr), divided
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
4 cups (1 liter) water

For the Pepper Base:

4 large red bell peppers (tatashe), seeded and roughly chopped
2 scotch bonnet peppers (ata rodo), stemmed
1 large red onion, halved
1/2 cup (120 ml) palm oil
2 tablespoons iru (fermented locust beans), rinsed

For Finishing:

1 medium smoked catfish or mackerel (about 8 oz / 225 g), bones removed and broken into chunks
3 tablespoons ground crayfish
2 lb (900 g) fresh spinach, efo shoko or efo tete

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Boil the Meats and Stockfish

1Put the stockfish in a bowl of hot water to soak. Put the beef, shaki, sliced small onion, 1 seasoning cube, 1 teaspoon of salt and 4 cups of water in a large pot. Once it boils, cover the pot and let it bubble gently for 30 minutes. Drop in the ponmo and the drained stockfish. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes longer; the beef is done when a fork meets no resistance. Lift out the meats and fish and keep the stock; you need 1 cup of it in Step 4.

A hand lowering pale grey-white pieces of soaked stockfish on a slotted spoon into a wide stainless-steel pot of beef cubes, pale strips of cow skin and onion rings simmering in clear meat stock, with more stockfish soaking in a white bowl on the wooden counter — Step 1- Boil the Meats and Stockfish

Step 2: Prepare the Greens and Peppers

2Wash the spinach in several changes of cold water until no grit settles in the bowl. Chop it into thin ribbons, then squeeze it by the handful to press out as much water as you can and leave it in a colander. Pulse the bell peppers, scotch bonnets and half of the red onion in a blender until coarse, like grated vegetables, not smooth. Thinly slice the other half of the onion.

Two hands squeezing a ball of chopped raw spinach over a steel colander in the sink, beside a board of chopped spinach, two red bell peppers, three orange scotch bonnets and a glass blender jar of coarse red pepper blend — Step 2- Prepare the Greens and Peppers

Step 3: Fry the Pepper Base

3Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the iru and stir for 1 minute. Pour in the blended peppers and crumble in the second seasoning cube. Fry, stirring often and scraping the bottom, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pepper dries out, shrinks by almost half and the oil shows at the edges.

A hand stirring a thick, coarse red-orange pepper paste with onion slices and small locust-bean seeds in a wide stainless-steel pot on a gas stove, oil pooling at the edge, beside a small glass bowl of palm oil on the wooden counter — Step 3- Fry the Pepper Base

Step 4: Add the Meats and Fish

4Pour in 1 cup (240 ml) of the meat stock and let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring it into the paste. Add the beef, shaki, ponmo, stockfish, smoked fish and ground crayfish, and stir gently so the fish stays in chunks. Taste and add salt if needed. At medium-low, give the meat and fish 10 minutes to take on the pepper.

A hand sprinkling ground crayfish from a small white bowl over beef cubes, flaky smoked fish and pale stockfish pieces in red-orange pepper sauce in the wide stainless-steel pot on the stove — Step 4- Add the Meats and Fish

Step 5: Stir In the Greens

5Drop in the squeezed spinach a handful at a time, turning each batch through the sauce before the next goes in. Let it wilt for 2 to 3 minutes, no longer. Turn off the heat and leave the pot on the burner for 5 minutes so the greens finish in the stored heat. Serve hot with pounded yam, eba, amala or white rice.

A hand folding wilting spinach leaves into the orange-red pepper sauce with a wooden spoon in the wide stainless-steel pot, a cube of beef and a chunk of smoked fish among the greens and a board of chopped spinach beside the stove — Step 5- Stir In the Greens

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make efo riro with frozen spinach?

Yes. Low Carb Africa says frozen spinach works. Thaw it in the microwave for a few minutes, drain it, and skip any added water, because frozen spinach already contains water (Low Carb Africa). Here, squeeze it as hard as fresh greens and cut the stock in Step 4 to 1/2 cup.

What can you use instead of palm oil?

Any cooking oil works, but the stew loses its color and some flavor. Sisi Jemimah recommends palm oil and suggests your preferred cooking oil if you have health concerns or allergies (Sisi Jemimah). Low Carb Africa has used olive oil (Low Carb Africa). Yummy Medley suggests vegetable oil or annatto oil (Yummy Medley).

How long does efo riro keep?

About 5 days in the fridge, according to Low Carb Africa, which also says it freezes for a few months (Low Carb Africa). Reheat it gently in a covered pan over low heat. The greens darken a little each time they are warmed, so heat only what you plan to eat.

Is the video recipe the same as this one?

Close, with larger amounts. Sisi Jemimah’s updated recipe lists 6 to 7 bunches of spinach, 3 red bell peppers, 3 chilli peppers (shombo) and 2 scotch bonnets. She also uses 1 cup of palm oil, 3 tablespoons of iru, a mackerel, smoked fish, stockfish and optional smoked prawns (Sisi Jemimah’s Recipes). The amounts on this page are scaled down to 6 servings.