Ukazi Leaves (Afang / Eru / Okazi) – Dried Nigerian Vegetable

Ukazi

One leaf, four names, depending on who is doing the cooking. Ukazi or okazi in Igbo. Afang to the Efik and Ibibio. Eru in Cameroon. Same dark green leaf, and every one of those kitchens will tell you theirs is the proper way to use it.

It is a tough, slow-growing forest leaf. That toughness is exactly why it holds up in a long-cooked soup when softer greens collapse.

How to prepare it

1. Rinse and soak briefly in warm water to soften.
2. Slice it as finely as you possibly can. This is the part people rush and regret. Thick ukazi is chewy. Properly sliced ukazi almost disappears into the soup.
3. Add it to the pot and let it cook. Unlike most vegetables, it wants time.

What it goes into

• Afang soup, with waterleaf, periwinkle, dried fish and beef
• Ukazi soup, thickened with achi or ofor
• Eru, the Cameroonian version, cooked with palm oil and crayfish

Taste

Mildly bitter, deeply green, slightly nutty. Balanced by the waterleaf or palm oil it is usually cooked with.

Product details

• Also known as: ukazi, okazi, afang, eru, Gnetum africanum
• Form: Dried leaves
• Size: 2.7oz
• Storage: Sealed, cool and dry.

Shipped from Nexxtmart to anywhere in the United States.