Porridge is the most special meal anyone can make from yam, that is not a mere talk, it is a fact! Yam porridge with vegetables is a great recipe for yam and it is loved by many Nigerians. If you want your yam porridge to enter another level of sweetness, just add vegetables to it. Even though the vegetable is optional, it is always great when you add some vegetables.
Some will say they are not a fan of yam but I bet you will love to eat yam when cooked as porridge with vegetables. Adding vegetables to yam porridge will make it to be super delicious and more nutritious to eat.
Yam Porridge With Vegetables Video
Read also: How To Cook Tomato Fried Rice
What is yam porridge?
Yam porridge is simply mashing cubes of yam with some seasonings, pepper mixture and protein food. Protein foods like dried fish, smoked fish, crayfish, stockfish, soft cow skin (ponmo), prawns, meat and mackerel can be added. It is highly nutritious and tasty due to the enriching ingredients that it contain.
The food is also known as yam pottage, in case you are wondering if this yam porridge is the same as yam pottage. Lol. They just use it interchangeably to describe the same dish.
Yam porridge is locally called Asaro by Yorubas, an ethnic group in Nigeria. The yam porridge (Asaro) is common among the Yoruba people but some other ethnic groups in Nigeria also love this dish and their method of preparing the dish is quite different.
Asides from making the yam porridge with vegetables you can also add any sauce to enjoy this dish better. The sauce is not necessary but if you feel you want the taste of a flavourful sauce on it, just to enhance the taste of your yam porridge. Feel free to add some, just make sure you do not use excessive seasoning for your yam porridge so that you can get a well-mixed dish.
What type of vegetable can I add to my yam porridge?
You can add any leafy green vegetable of choice, most especially the ones that can be eaten raw, has a thick texture and won’t shrink back too much when cooked. Examples of such leafy green are spinach, pumpkin, parsley or kale.
For this recipe, I used pumpkin leaf (Ugwu) as my porridge vegetable. It was the last thing I added to the porridge. I didn’t allow it to cook for more than 2 minutes so that I will not lose some of its nutritional value.
Read also: How to cook Egusi Ijebu with Ewedu
How to prepare yam porridge with vegetable
Print
Ingredients
Yam – 1 medium puna yam
Tomatoes- 4 plum tomatoes
Scotch bonnet peppers (rodo)- 4
Onion- 2 medium sizes (Finely sliced)
Red bell peppers (tatashe)- 3
Cayenne pepper (shombo)- 3
Crayfish- 1 cup
Chicken/beef broth (Optional)
Smoked fish (panla)- 4
Pumpkin (Ugwu) leaf- Finely sliced (2 cups)
Dried fish (bonga)- 4
Palm oil- 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
Tomato paste- 1 sachet
Curry and thyme- ½ tsp each
Seasoning cubes- 2
Salt to taste
Directions
- Prep your peppers (tomatoes, rodo, tatashe and shombo) by rinsing and blending everything into a smooth paste and set aside.
- Debone the dried fish and smoked fish and rinse them alongside crayfish and set them aside. Also, rinse and slice your onions and set them aside.
- Peel and cut your yam into small fine cubes and rinse about 4-5 times until the water runs clear.
- Place a large saucepan on medium-high heat, add the rinsed yam and add enough water just at the same level of the yam.
- Add half of the sliced onions into the yam and also add salt to it and let it cook for about 15-20minutes until it is soft and tender.
- While the yam is cooking, put a small saucepan on low-medium heat, add the palm oil and vegetable oil. Leave it for a few seconds until you hear the sizzling sound.
Note- you can use either only palm oil or vegetable oil to cook your yam porridge. I just prefer a mixture of the two due to the extra flavour they both add to my porridge. - Add the second half of the sliced onions and leave to fry until the onion changes colour and texture ( be careful so you don’t burn it).
- Add the tomato paste, allow it to fry for about 2 minutes. Add the pepper mixture, seasoning cubes, curry and thyme. Leave it to cook for about 5-10 minutes on low heat. Until the pepper mixture is fried completely just like the way you make stew. Remove from heat.
- Check your yam, the water should be almost completely dried out at this point, add your broth to it (not too much broth, so that the porridge will not be too watery at the end, although the broth is optional. You can add little water to it if the water is almost dried out).
- Mash the yam with a wooden spoon or spatula. You can as well use a potato masher to do it.
Note- Do not mash the yam completely. It is important to leave some chunks of yam inside. - Add your fried stew( the pepper mixture you fried earlier) into the yam and mix it properly in it. Every part of the yam should be completely mixed with the stew base.
- Add the rinsed dried fish, smoked fish and crayfish (note- you can add any protein food at this point according to your preference either meat, cowskin, shredded chicken or fresh fish). Leave it to simmer for about 3 minutes on low heat.
- Finally, add the sliced vegetables (Pumpkin leaves or any one of choice) and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, leave it to cool a bit and serve.
That’s it about the delicious yam porridge with vegetables. Hope you like this recipe and you will give it a try. What do you like about Asaro? Please share with me below!