SEAFOOD and WELE or PONMO OKRO SOUP RECIPE (GHANA*NIGERIA)

‘Wele’, ‘Ponmo’ are basically words used to describe Cow hide in Ghana and Nigeria respectively.

Cow hide is a delicacy that’s enjoyed in both Ghana and Nigeria.

It’s an inexpensive ‘Meat’ with little nutritional contents (Protein & Collagen) depending on how it’s manufactured. 

Cow hide manufactured in a hygienic way has little protein and it’s packed with Collagen which helps against aging of the skin.

 When added to stews, soup and cooked in spices is does taste good.

 The unhygienic way that most producers use in making the Cow hide for consumption contributed to my Mum not including it our diet.

 It’s difficult to establish if the Cow hide you purchase from the market place is wood smoked and not smoked with used tyres and petrochemicals.

 It’s about time a seal of authenticity is introduced by the various governing Food Standard Boards to ensure they’re only wood smoked.

I learnt how to cook from my Mum, hence the absence of the Cow hide in our diet stayed with me till my adulthood. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve enjoyed this delicacy, hence I was excited when a cousin gifted me a portion.

The natural Cow hide is dark brown in colour (due to burning of the hairs), has to be scraped and cleaned before cooking. 

The cooking process can take up to 3 hrs to soften the skin, hence its best to use a pressure cooker.

The Cow hide I was gifted had a cream looking colour, which meant it was scalded , shaved and par boiled. 

This meant the Cow hide had no unwanted chemicals and was cooked within an hour and a half instead of 3 or more hours with the wood smoked or tyre burnt types.

It’s imperative to source the Cow hide that has either been wood burnt or the cream looking types. 

With this in mind I proceeded to include this delicacy to my Okro soup recipe which included, Prawns, Tilapia, Salmon, Mackerel and Spinach for their flavour and nutritional content.

Tip

Use whatever fish or seafood that’s available to you. I used up most of my leftover Fish for this dish.

INGREDIENTS 

COW HIDE

300g of Cow hide cut into sizeable chunks 

1 Habanero Chilli

1 large Clove of Garlic

2 litres of water

OKRO SOUP

300g of smoked Mackerel 

300g of wood smoked Salmon

200g of fried Tilapia 

150g of fried Prawns

500g of baby Spinach or Cocoyam leaves

700g of chopped fresh Okra

4 tablespoonfuls of Palm oil or Zomi

1 Habanero chilli

1 large chopped Onion

1 levelled tablespoon of Bicarbonate soda 

350ml of water or your preferred stock 

Salt to taste

RAW PEPPER 

2 medium sized Tomatoes 

1 medium sized Onion

1 Habanero Chilli

1 clove of Garlic

10g of fresh Ginger 

SPICE MIX

30g of Ginger

1 medium sized Onion 

1 clove of Garlic

1 tablespoonful of Aniseed

METHOD 

Watch how to prepare this flavour packed soup including the use of Cow hide (Wele,Ponmo)below;

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