Nigerian
Gluten free
SpicyNkwobi (cow foot in spicy palm-oil sauce)
Nkwobi: tender cow foot coated in thick yellow palm-oil potash sauce with utazi and onion
Pieces of cow foot, cooked for hours until gelatinous and sticky, are what make nkwobi so popular in bars and small restaurants across Anambra, Enugu and Lagos. The meat is tossed in the same kind of thick, peppery palm-oil and potash sauce used for isi ewu, spiked with ehuru and crayfish, then finished with sliced onion and bitter utazi leaves. It is eaten as an evening dish in its wooden bowl, slowly, with plenty of conversation. Undercooking the cow foot is the mistake to avoid; it should be soft enough to pull from the bone with a fork, so give it the full time or use a pressure cooker. Chef's tip: add the potash liquid to the oil slowly and stop when the sauce is thick, as too much potash makes it taste soapy.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 150 min
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Serves
- 4
- Per serving
- 480 kcal
Ingredients
For the cow foot
- 3 ⅓ lb cow footcleaned and cut into pieces by the butcher
- 1 onionsliced
- 2 stock cubescrumbled; check they are gluten free
- 1 tsp salt
For the sauce
- 1 tsp food-grade potash (akanwu)crushed; sub: ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ cup red palm oil
- 1 tsp ehuru (calabash nutmeg)toasted and ground; sub: ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp ground crayfish
- 3 ½ oz ugba (fermented oil bean) (optional)rinsed
To garnish
- 1 red onionsliced into rings
- 6 utazi leaves (optional)finely sliced
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Scrub 3 ⅓ lb cow foot pieces under warm water, scraping off any hairs. Put in a pot of water, bring to the boil for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse to clean the meat.
10 minStep 2: Return to the pot with 1 onion, 2 stock cubes, 1 tsp salt and water to cover by 5 cm. Simmer, covered, for 2–2½ hours, topping up with water, until the meat and skin are very soft and gelatinous and come away from the bone. (In a pressure cooker: about 50 minutes.)
140 minStep 3: Drain, keeping 150 ml of the stock. Leave the meat to cool slightly and pull out any loose bones.
5 minStep 4: Dissolve 1 tsp food-grade potash (akanwu) in 4 tbsp warm water, leave 5 minutes to settle, then pour off the clear liquid and discard the sediment.
5 minStep 5: Off the heat, whisk the potash liquid into ½ cup red palm oil a spoonful at a time, until it turns into a thick yellow cream. Whisk in 1 tsp ehuru (calabash nutmeg), 2 tsp ground scotch bonnet or dried chilli, 2 tbsp ground crayfish and 4–6 tbsp of the warm stock until smooth.
4 minStep 6: Stir in 3 ½ oz ugba (fermented oil bean) and the warm cow foot and toss until coated. Warm over a low heat for 2 minutes if needed, without boiling, then serve topped with 1 red onion and 6 utazi leaves.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 42 g
- Carbs
- 5 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nkwobi (cow foot in spicy palm-oil sauce) take?
- About 170 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
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