Otor mboro is a native dish from Akwa Ibom State. It is lumpy porridge made with nkim mboro (unripe bananas), which has various nutritious and health benefits. Unripe/green banana is a rich source of iron, resistant starch, potassium, and pectin.
Otor mboro is commonly eaten by nursing mothers, especially in Akwa Ibom, because of the benefits I’ve mentioned above. Babies transitioning to solids are also fed this food. In their case, the food is prepared without the pepper but with more crayfish and palm oil.
Surprisingly, and I say so because I love love food however, I wasn’t a fan of this dish. I didn’t like how it looked, so wasn’t interested in knowing how it tasted not until last year, 2020. In the spirit of trying new things, I made and tried my first ever otor mboro dish. I must say it is yummy and absolutely easy to make. That is if you remove the high chance of scraping your fingertips and nails during the grating.
Otor mboro
Recipe by Sinemobong
Servings
3 Servings
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cooking Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
- 5 unripe or green banana
- ¼ cup palm oil
- 5 cups water
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 3 seasoning cubes
- 1 tbsp. dried pepper (use fresh pepper if you have)
- 1 tsp. salt or add to taste
- 1 tbsp. crayfish
- 1/2 onion, chopped
Instructions
1. Wash and chop the onions and garlic.
2. Melt your palm oil using hot water (only if your palm oil is solid at room temperature).
3. Wash, peel and scrape off the thin layer/long stringy bits covering the banana using the back of your knife.
4. Grate the unripe/green bananas. Mix the grated bananas to a smooth dough and set aside.
5. In a saucepan, pour in the water and bring to boil.
6. Reduce the heat to medium, add pepper, chopped onion and garlic, crayfish, salt, seasoning cubes to boiling water; allow 2-3 mins.
7. Using your hands or a spoon, add the grated banana as small balls into the boiling mixture.
8. Cover and boil for 10 minutes to cook the banana, create whole lumps, and thicken the sauce. Do not stir.
9. Add the chopped vegetable leaves at this point and stir gently. Allow to simmer for another 2 minutes, so the vegetables stay green and fresh.
10. Remove from heat and serve.
Tips:
- Put the peeled banana in water if you won’t be grating it immediately to slow down the oxidation reaction that turns it black.
- Do not stir immediately after adding the grated banana. If you must stir, do it ever so gently; otherwise, the lumps will disintegrate and become like custard. The beauty of the dish is in the lumps.
Enjoy!!
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