Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygadalina) soup is a delicious and nutritious soup that is healthy for the body and very medicinal. It is consumed in many homes in Nigeria as a vegetable in soup preparation.
This post is simply about Bitter Leaf Soup Recipe and its Health benefits. Here you will learn how to prepare Bitter Leaf Soup and how good it is to the body.
Making Bitter leaf soup or the juice can be a little bit stressful to make when you squeeze the bitter leaf to bring out the liquid, but if you know the health benefits you would want to and try to take it, when tasted the leaf is very bitter especially when it has not been squeezed or washed. The bitterness in bitter leaf that makes it unpalatable is also one of its greatest health benefits. It is called Onugbu in Igbo, Ewuro in Yoruba, Ndole in Cameroon.
Reason Bitter Leaf is good for the body
- Its ability to aid up metabolism in order to help one loose weight as a result of nutrients like zinc, iron, fiber, carbohydrate contained in it.
- The bitterness of bitter leaf helps to lower your sugar level and controls blood pressure. hypertensive and diabetic patients are advised to consume bitter leaf as the potassium it contains is a good remedy for hypertension.
- Regular intake of this vegetable helps to regulate the blood cholesterol level which is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
- Bitter leaf is useful in the treatment of stomach upset, diarrhea, skin infection (ringworm,rashes etc) also nourishing the skin, dysentery and other gastrointestinal tract diseases.
- Bitter leaf juice improve the production of breast milks in nursing mothers
- Bitter leaf is an antidote for malaria and sleeplessness.
- Bitter leaf stem can serve as chewing stick for brushing the teeth and the leaf extract applied to the skin especially when injured.
Nutritional content in Bitter Leaf
Vitamins in Bitter leaf include A, B1 ,B2, C and E. The study revealed that Bitter leaf has high protein (33.3%), fat (10.1%), crude fibre (29.2%), ash (11.7%), mineral (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Zn & Fe), phytate (1015.4mg/100g) and tannin (0.6%) content, while it contain low cyanide (1.1mg/kg).
How to prepare Bitter Leaf Soup
Ingredients
- Bitter Leaf ( Fresh leaves or buy already washed one at the grocery store or at market) just a handful of Bitter Leaf should be OK except you want it much.
- 2 tablespoon of Ground Crayfish
- Half cup Palm Oil
- Beef, Goat Meat,Bush Meat etc
- Seasoning Cubes
- Stock Fish, Mangala Fish
- Half or Small Red bulb Onion (choice)
- Coco yam (about 10 small balls), Ofo
- Locust Beans ( fresh Iru or Dawa dawa)
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to Prepare Bitter Leaf Soup
- If you are using Coco yam; Boil, peel and pound or blend it till you get a smooth Coco yam Puree.
- If you are using Ofo; use warm water to mix the Ofo to get Ofo puree.
- If you buy already washed Bitter Leaf from the market, you can rinse it again like 2 or 3 times
- Rinse your Meat, Mangala fish and Stock fish.
- Boil your meat for 10 minutes with a pinch of Salt, 1 seasoning cube and Onion.
- Add Mangala and Stock fish to it, then cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add ground Crayfish, Pepper, 2 Seasoning Cubes, Palm Oil , Locust beans stir them gentle together let them mix well. Add a little water if need be.
- Add your Cocoyam or Ofo puree with spoon in lumps
- Cover to cook for 3 Minutes after that Stir gently
- Add your washed Bitter leaf stir them together, give it a taste, then add salt to taste
Your Soup is ready!!!!
Bitter Leaf soup is served with Eba, Semo, Fufu or Boiled Plantain.
Related Post: How to prepare Ogbono Soup
How to Make Bitter Leaf Juice
To make Bitter Leaf Juice, Pluck the leaves and rinse. Then add a little water and start squeezing or more like washing continuously with your hands or you blend the leaves with blender.
It will produce froths. Now pour in water and sieve it out, add more water and start squeezing it but with more energy. When you are through, get a glass cup, place it under the sieve, then sieve in the water into the cup and the Bitter Leaf Juice is ready. You can add liquid milk to reduce the bitterness.
Conclusion
Bitter leaf soup is not as bad as people might think it is because of the bitter taste in it, it is really delicious, i wish you can join me eat this one but i look forward to seeing the pictures of the one you made on my Facebook group
Some people do like the long type of the Bitter Leaf, but i prefer the short ones
If you have any question or maybe you encounter any challenge, kindly leave a comment below.