A friend was kind enough to send me some quantity of unripe scotch bonnet pepper from her farm last week. So this was my first motivation to cook Ayamase Stew. I was further encouraged to make this stew after attending a wedding party last weekend. One of the most common dishes at Lagos parties is rice and Ayamase Stew also called Ofada stew or Designer rice and stew.
You will find different variations of this stew particularly in Lagos. I even know some local ‘Bukas’ (small restaurant) that have their own secret recipes . The variations is based on the proportions of unripe pepper, Tatashe, oil, crayfish, Iru and Onion that you use. I used largely unripe scotch bonnet pepper and onion in my recipe .The use of unripe Tatashe is also an option when you cannot tolerate the heat of the scotch bonnet pepper.
It appears that unripe pepper is not as hot as ripe pepper. What I did with my recipe was to reduce the oil content which I find in most of the stews I see at parties. So get your ingredients and enjoy your week with Ayamase stew and rice.
Recipe for Ayamase Stew
Ingredients
3 cups assorted Meat( beef,shaki, Pomo,liver etc)
3/4 cups PalmOil
3 cups blended unripe Scotch Bonnet Pepper( boiled till dry)
1 cup blended Onion
One tablespoon crayfish
1 tablespoon Iru( fermented oil bean seed)
Seasoning to taste
Salt to taste
Method
1, Cut meats into tiny pieces, seasoning with onion, pepper seasoning and salt and steam till cooked. Fry meats and set aside
2,Heat the oil for 5 minutes with the pot covered. Turn off the heat and leave the lid of the pot on.. The oil actually gets dark brown . You don’t need to go beyond this time so the oil does not turn black. Allow the oil to cool down
3,Blend the onion with the Iru .
4,Put the oil back on the fire to heat up again and add the onion. Fry till all the water evaporates
5,Add the pepper , crayfish and meat stock and fry till dry and oil starts appearing on top of the stew. Taste and correct seasoning
6, Add the meats and continue frying for about 10 minutes.
7, Serve with rice and dodo.
U didn’t use tomatoes?
Wat kinda pepper is required?
Hi, Linda. I used unripe fresh pepper , which is Scotch bonnet pepper.
Hi, Linda . That’s what makes this stew different. You don’t use tomatoes.
Looks good. Please what’s iru?
really nice dish. But please what exactly is Iru(fermented bean oil) please what does it look like how can one identify it in the market.?
Hmmm, will try this recipe..
Hello, can I use other unripe pepper, cost there are no scotch bonnet peppers here, no tatashe too.
Hello,Chidinma. You can try some other unripe peppers. But check for the hotness of the peppers to be sure you can tolerate it.
Nice
Hello Adaku. Thank you for following my blog
Can I use greenpepper n red scotch bonnet pepper?
Hello Linda. I have not tried using green bell pepper but I do see why it will not work . Although it will bring some sweetness to the sauce. You also try unripe Tatashe if you find it.
Are the green scotch bonnets peppery?
Hi Ibirohunkee, yes the scotch bonnet peppers are hot , but it depends on your tolerance level. You can mix the scotch bonnet with some green bell pepper to reduce the heat.