How to make okra soup: A mother’s recipe

My mother made this soup the same way for as long as I can remember. Palm oil, smoked fish, crabs, gboma leaves torn by hand and never cut. She showed me what worked and I wrote it down.

There are a few things my mother passed on by demonstration that have since made sense to me in other ways: what happens to gboma leaves if you cut them instead of tear and what happens in the pot when okra soup thickens. This article covers the recipe and the reasoning behind it.

Is okra soup healthy to eat?

Okra is a good source of fiber, folate and vitamins C and K. A 100g serving of raw okra provides about 11% of the recommended daily fiber intake. This fiber is partly soluble, which slows digestion and helps to moderate blood sugar levels.

The texture people either love or want to manage comes from okra mucilage. Research on okra mucilage suggests it can bind cholesterol in the digestive tract, which may reduce how much gets absorbed.

The same mucilage is being studied for its potential role in blood sugar regulation, though the evidence there is still developing rather than settled.

Unrefined red palm oil adds beta-carotene (what gives it its color) and vitamin E, both of which are present in the unrefined version and largely absent from refined palm oil.

The smoked fish and crabs in this recipe contribute protein and, depending on the species, omega-3 fatty acids, and also a nice depth of flavor.

The ingredients for okra soup

The flavor base

• 3 to 4 tablespoons unrefined red palm oil
• 2 medium onions (one finely chopped; one left whole for blending later)
• 1 to 2 pieces momoni or koobi (fermented fish), optional
• Alternatively, 1 to 2 pieces koobi (salted dried tilapia) can serve this role
• 3 to 3 scotch bonnet peppers
• 2 to 3 cups water, added in two stages

Momoni is a Ghanaian fermented fish condiment with a strong, pungent aroma and deep umami flavor. It doesn't add any substantial nutrients and it’s not the same as koobi. Koobi is salted and sun-dried tilapia but not fermented. Both add depth to the base, but in different registers.

Momoni is more pungent; koobi is saltier and milder. If you have neither, the smoked fish, crabs and shrimp powder work just fine.

The proteins

• 400g smoked or baked fish (tilapia, mackerel or bream)
• 100 to 150g crabs, well-washed
• 1/2 piece medium size koobi (salted dried tilapia), well-washed (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground shrimp powder (optional)

If koobi is in the pot, hold the salt entirely until you taste at the end. If not, season when you add the protein.

The okra

• 400 to 500g fresh okra, tops trimmed and chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried ground okra, optional (for extra thickness)

The greens

• 150 to 200g gboma (African eggplant) leaves, washed and torn by hand
• OR ademe (jute mallow leaves)
• OR kontomire (cocoyam leaves / taro leaves)
• OR fresh spinach
• OR no greens at all

Each one changes the soup in a specific way. Gboma has a mild bitterness that mellows as it cooks in oil-based broth.

Ademe is softer and more neutral in flavor. It also has a slimy texture just like okra.

Kontomire is soft and cooks really quickly. It also reduces okra's slimy texture, similar to how tomato acid works in okra stew.

Spinach is the most widely available substitute and the mildest of all the four. It doesn’t affect okra’s sliminess.

How to make okra soup step by step

Step 1: Prep your ingredients

Get all your proteins and wash as needed

Peel and wash your onions, and the peppers too

Wash and chop the okra using a knife or a food processor

Wash the gboma leaves in cold water, then tear them apart with your hands into manageable pieces.

Step 2: Build the base

Put the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion. If you are using momoni or koobi, add it now. Cook for about 3 minutes until the onion softens and begins to color. Use your ladle to press and scatter the momoni or koobi as it softens; it will break up and integrate into the oil. Pour in 1 to 2 cups of water to stop the frying and convert the base into a broth.

Step 3: Add water

Add the smoked fish and crabs. Add the whole onion and one or two whole scotch bonnet peppers (left whole for now, don't cut). Sprinkle the shrimp powder. If you're not using koobi, add salt here. Stir once, cover and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.

Step 4: Remove peppers and onions, add more water

After about 6 to10 minutes, remove the whole scotch bonnet peppers and onion, and set them aside. You'll use them later. Add another 2 to 3 cups of water, depending on how thick you want the finished soup.

Step 5: Add okra, then greens. Don't stir.

Add the chopped okra to the broth base first. Don’t cover. Allow to start bubbling gently, then layer the greens on top. Don't stir. Put the lid on half and let the soup return to a gentle boil. The okra will release its mucilage into the liquid as it heats, thickening the soup from the inside.

Step 6: Blend and finish

While the soup boils, blend or grind the cooked scotch bonnet peppers together with the whole onion. Once the soup has been boiling until almost done, pour in the blended pepper-onion mix.

Take 2 to 5 fresh scotch bonnet peppers, press each one until it bursts but stays whole, and add them to the soup.

Stir gently, then taste and adjust salt.

Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 3 to 5 minutes or until done.

If you want to reduce the sliminess, you can cover it completely in this final simmer.

The best way to cook okra

Okra is rich in vitamin C and folate, both of which are sensitive to heat. Research on how heat processing affects phytonutrients in okra shows that more aggressive heating reduces phenolic and antioxidant capacity compared to gentler methods This holds across multiple processing studies.

Color tells you something too. Okra's green color comes from chlorophyll. At high cooking temperatures, chlorophyll converts to pheophytin, which is olive-brown rather than the bright green you started with.

The color shift is one indicator that the cooking environment has been intense enough to start breaking down heat-sensitive compounds. Cooking okra on medium heat preserves both the color and more of the nutritional content.

How to prepare gboma

Gboma or African eggplant leaves is a nightshade (Solanaceae). It contains alkaloids, the substance that makes the leave bitter. If not handled gently, the bitterness becomes the dominant flavor.

Tearing the leaves by hand causes less cell damage than cutting with a knife. Fewer broken cells means fewer alkaloids released into the cooking liquid. This gives a nice complexity to the soup’s flavor.

If gboma is not available, kontomire (cocoyam leaves) is the best substitute for texture control. It does not have the bitterness issue and actively cuts the soup's sliminess.

What to serve with okra soup

Banku, akple, kenkey or eba are typical traditional pairings in Ghana. Any starchy base that can absorb the broth works. Soft boiled rice is also a good option if you don’t mind a little bit of sliminess. The soup is filling enough on its own that you do not need a large portion of the starchy side.