How to Cook Nigerian Ayamase Stew
This week’s recipe spotlight is on Ayamase Stew from Nigeria! Our home is a multicultural one so we mix the weekly menu with American, Sierra Leonean, and Nigerian dishes. This is one of my husband’s favorites, so the recipe below is for a large quantity. For reference, I was able to pack two freezer containers for a rainy day and one container for the weeks rotation. If you don’t want as much, reduce the packages of bell peppers a bit. Although this isn’t a recipe I grew up cooking, it is one that I can thanks to YouTube university. I’ve linked the pages to a couple Nigerian youtubers that I used as reference, but here is this salone gals take on Ayamase. Enjoy!
Ingredient List:
| 12 Packages Frozen Green Bell Peppers | Tripe |
| 1 Handful Dried Red Chillies | Palm Oil |
| 1 Handful Locust Beans | Bay Leaves |
| 2 Red Onions | Maggie Powder or Cubes |
| 3 Habanero Peppers | Crayfish Powder |
| 6 Hard Boiled Eggs | Onion Powder |
| Stock Fish | Garlic Powder |
| Goat Meat | Salt |
| Smoked Turkey |
Prep:
This recipe requires a fair amount of prep before you actually get to the stew part. See my prep steps below that can be completed in any order.
- For this, I used my pre-cooked and fried goat meat, smoked turkey, and tripe so please cook your main meats as a part of your prep.
- I then blend all the packages of green bell peppers. Once I blend them all, I strain them to take out as much water as possible. This helps with the fry time once you start making the stew.
- You can also use fresh green bell peppers for your recipe.
- While I’m blending the bell peppers, I boil the stockfish and eggs.
- The most important step in the prep is bleaching the palm oil. You’ll want to basically fry the oil in an unventilated pan. I usually place the pan on the back burner on medium heat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the stove off and keep the lid on for about 10 minutes. This is so that the smoke can enter the oil fully.
Fry The Stew:
Step 1: Blend peppers and onions
Blend the red chillies, habaneros, and 1.5 red onions together. Save the remaining half onion for the next step.
Step 2: Fry locust beans and onions
Pour the bleached palm oil into the pot you’ll be cooking the stew in and heat it up again. Once ready, pour your washed locust beans and the remaining half chopped onion into the pot to fry for a minute.
Step 3: Add bell peppers, onions & pepper mix
Add the green bell peppers and onion pepper mix to the oil; mixing everything together.
Step 4: Season to taste
Add all seasonings to the pepper mix including your bay leaves. Season to your taste level. I also add my cray fish powder during this step as well as a *bit* more bleached palm oil.
Optional Step 4A: Add vegetable oil
I also add a bit of vegetable oil. Authentic recipes don’t usually add vegetable oil from what I’ve seen. I do it because the oil is what helps your stew fry faster and my people, I’m impatient.
Step 5: Cover to cook for 5 minutes
Step 6: Add stockfish
Add your precooked stockfish to the pot and allow to continue frying for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
Step 7: Add assorted meat
After the 10-15 minutes, you should start to see the color change on your bell peppers from a bright green to a more brown-green color. Also, all your oil should be at the top of your stew. At this time, you’ll want to add your assorted meat into your stew and mix together well.
Step 8: Add your boiled eggs on top
This is the final step in my process. I like to add the eggs after adding all the meat so they don’t break a part in the stew. Once I add them, mix them into the stew and allow everything to cook on low heat for 10 minutes. After that, it’s done and ready to serve!
Note: When transferring to your pot, you don’t have to transfer all of the oil. I use a straining spoon to dish my stew into my bowls and discard any extra oil.
Any stew is a labor of love as there’s many steps in the cooking process, but it’s a process well worth it in the end. Hope you’ll try and enjoy this recipe sometime. If you do, please tag me or comment below to let me know you tried it!
Also, check out both Sisi Yemi and Sisi Jeremiah’s youtube channels for their Ayamase recipes so you can get inspo from us all and make your recipe your own!
