Ayamase - Ofada Stew Recipe

Nigerian Ayamase / Ofada Stew Recipe. Funny enough, the Ofada sauce got it name from the local rice it is usually served with (Ofada rice), the sauce itself is called Ayamase 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of palm oil – roughly
• 6 -7 pieces of green bell pepper – basically green tatashe
• 3 pieces of ata rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
• 2 wraps of Iru – fermented locust beans
• 3 – 4 cups or more of chopped assorted meats
• Beef Stock
• Seasoning Cube
• Salt
• 1 large onion
• 1 cooking spoon of ground crayfish
• Ayamase stew spice 
• 4 Boiled eggs

Directions:

1. Blend the Green Pepper with the ata rodo and boil till it reduces and becomes thick. 
2. While the pepper is boiling, cover the pot and bleach the palm oil. This is roughly one cup. Be a little obsessive about this. Set the timer if possible. As soon as you start to approach the 8 – 10 minute mark, turn off the heat. 
3. Once the pot has cooled, put it back on the heat and add chopped onions. Let it fry till it softens, and then add the iru and let both fry. 
4. Add the meats, stir and let it fry. At the beginning, the meats take over the pot, with time, as it fries, it will release the oil which will float to the top, once it does...
5. Add the boiled pepper and stir. Like above, let it fry until oil floats to the top, then add stock, roughly 1 cup, stir and let it fry until you start to see patches of oil on top. If you have got very rich stock, you may not need to re-season with salt and seasoning cubes. If you need to, simply do.
6. Add ground crayfish, stir and let the crayfish cook and combine with the stew. Lower the heat, and let the stew gently fry till it releases the oil back up again. At this point, you can add boiled eggs, while you are letting it fry. Once the oil starts to float back up, taste again for salt and seasoning, and re-adjust accordingly.
7. Serve with ofada rice (unpolished rice), regular long grain rice or even perfumed rice like Basmati or Jasmine rice. Add fried plantain for that extra enjoyment.