Ogbono Soup

From ars.usda.gov

I'm baaaaack! After a very, very long hiatus, I now have time to get back to working on this blog.  I had 4 babies in the intervening time, the most recent being 6 month-old twins, so I have got a LOT of baby weight to lose to get back to my sisi-levels.  I need the guidance of this blog more than ever, lol! Without further ado, this is Ogbono soup dissected.  

Some tenuous research has shown that Ogbono (aka Irvingia Gabonensis, African mango seeds or dikka nuts) displays the potential to aid in weight loss as well as improve one’s health numbers like cholesterol and blood sugar. According to the study, participants who took irvingia extracts had 4 times more weight loss than other participants who didn’t. I HATE draw soup, but I might have to change my ways, in case the research is proved right in the long run.  Note: The recipe here is the one I use at home, with chopped 'rodo and okro to make it more palatable for me.

See the "Cooking Procedure" Tab for the preparation steps.

Core Ingredients	Total Calories
1/4 cup ground Ogbono / dikka nut. Ogbono that draws oooo!	159
3/4 cup chopped raw okro	23
4 fresh atarodo / habanero pepper, average size*	116
2 tbsp ground crayfish	44
Meat Seasoning: 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg	6
1 small red Onion, (~70g), chopped finely	29
1 level tsp dry, ground ginger	6
1 level tsp garlic powder	9
1 level tsp dry, ground curry	6
1 level tsp dry thyme	4
2 Stock cubes	12
2 ladles (10 tbsp) Palm oil	1200
1 litre of water	0
1 cup of stock (leftover from cooking the stand-alone ingredients)**	7
Salt to taste	~0
Total Calories in one pot of Ogbono soup	1621
Serving size	1 ladle (~5 tbsp)
Calories per Serving	87

*Average size taken as 8.7 g (source from hanaone.com) at 15 calories per 4.5g (livestrong.com)
**Beef stock, source USDA. No stock assumed from stockfish and smoked fish, since they are dry. Calories from seasoning accounted for in the table already

Stand-Alone Ingredients	Total Calories
1 Small stockfish head ~5 oz	405
8 medium pieces of cooked beef, ~1 oz each	739
1 medium smoked fish (in this case shawa aka kippered herring)	87

A good meal would therefore be

2 ladles of ogbono soup = 174 calories

1 pieces of beef                       =  92 calories

1/2 smoked fish                      = 44 calories

1/6 stock fish                            = 68 calories

No swallow                              = No calories (hehehe)

For a grand total of   378 calories

If you MUST add swallow, lessen the amount of soup or eliminate the beef, and then use a swallow portion that will not take the total meal output to too much more than 400 calories.