Nigeria | Stew

Ayamase

Name: Ayamase
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 115 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 5 whole green bell peppers, roughly chopped; 6 whole green scotch bonnet peppers, use less for mild heat; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 cup red palm oil; 2 tbsp iru locust beans, rinsed; 900 g assorted cooked meat, beef, tripe, ponmo, or goat; 6 whole boiled eggs; 1 tbsp ground crayfish; salt, to taste

Yoruba green pepper stew cooked with bleached palm oil, iru, assorted meats, and boiled eggs, usually served with Ofada rice.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

115 min

Serves

Level

hard

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Ayamase is intense, smoky, and unmistakably Yoruba. Green peppers, bleached palm oil, iru, and assorted meats create the stew that makes Ofada rice feel complete.

What the dish tastes like

Yoruba green pepper stew cooked with bleached palm oil, iru, assorted meats, and boiled eggs, usually served with Ofada rice.

When to cook it

Best for Best for parties, Sunday lunch, and serious rice plates., with a hard cooking level and about 115 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Ofada rice, boiled eggs, fried plantain, or plain white rice.

Regional lane

South-West and Yoruba table. Amala, ewedu, gbegiri, pepper stews, leafy soups, beans, and market foods from the Yoruba cooking orbit.

Chef watch-outs

Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.

How you know it is ready

The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

palm oil, crayfish, iru or ogiri, scotch bonnet, melon seed

Chef board

Build the table around Ayamase

Ofada rice, boiled eggs, fried plantain, or plain white rice.

Best route from here

South-West and Yoruba table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Stew

Pepper blend

5 whole green bell peppers, roughly chopped 6 whole green scotch bonnet peppers, use less for mild heat 1 large onion, chopped

Stew

1 cup red palm oil 2 tbsp iru locust beans, rinsed

Protein

900 g assorted cooked meat, beef, tripe, ponmo, or goat 6 whole boiled eggs

Seasoning

1 tbsp ground crayfish (optional)

Pantry

salt, to taste

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Nigeria

4 steps 115 min total hard

Blend and reduce

Blend green peppers and onion coarsely, then boil down until thick and most water evaporates.

reduce peppers 25:00

Bleach palm oil safely

Heat palm oil in a covered pot over medium heat until darker and smoky, then turn off heat and let it cool before opening.

Ventilate the kitchen and never open the hot smoky pot toward your face.

bleach oil 15:00

Fry the stew

Add iru to the oil, then the reduced pepper blend. Fry until the oil begins to separate.

fry sauce 20:00

Add meat and eggs

Add assorted meats, crayfish if using, and salt. Simmer, then add eggs and coat well.

finish stew 15:00

Some cooks use more green bell pepper, some more green scotch bonnet, and the meat mix depends on the table.

Ayamase

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Ayamase

Step-by-step method

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