Hi all, i want to share this recipe with my nairaland peeps. Ukpo Oka is also known as Corn pudding. Its a very special delicacy of the Ika - Ibo people of Delta state. The food is more common during the corn season because its made with fresh corn and absolutely nutritious, delicious and filling.
If you have any questions on the preparation, feel free to ask.

INGREDIENTS
Fresh corn
Small crayfish
Big crayfish or prawn
Fresh pepper
Onion (lots)
Palm oil
Seasoning (star or knorr)
Salt
Water

PREPARATION:
1) Peel off the husk of corn and remove all strands.
2) Using a sharp knife, slice down the seeds from the corn.
3) Add the fresh pepper, onion, small crayfish and blend. When blending, blend the onion, crayfish and pepper to a smooth paste while the corn will not be smooth. The corn should have a very rough texture and feel after blending.
4) Transfer to a container with wide opening and stir with a spatular for about 5minutes. If its too thick, add a little water.
5) Add the washed prawns, seasoning, salt, palm oil and stir further till all the oil is well incorporated.
6) Wrap in leaf (the type used for wrapping moin-moin or nylon if you don‘t have access to leaves.
7) Steam on high heat (same way for moin moin) for about 1 hr to 1hr 30mins. You will know its cooked when the content of the leaf or nylon becomes solid.

I encourage you to try it and please let us know if you enjoyed it.

P.S: This food is eaten with clean hands straight up.

More pics

More pics .........

The corn version of moi-moi. . . .My mum likes it a lot.
I posted my recipe and finished product sometime ago, we follow the same procedure.
I can't get those leaves here, so I use foil paper. . . . I know I'm missing a lot.
Thanks for sharing, Prettycindy.

Missy you are welcome. i saw your old post on this food. In yours, you add eggs and corned beef/canned fish........ Hmmmnnn well, the traditional recipe does not include all that orishi rishi ooo. If you want to enjoy corn pudding, just make sure you add plenty onions, crayfish and prawns. Any other other thing like egg, meat, fish will ruin the taste. If you have access to crayfish and prawns (the type pictured above) where you are, you can comfortably make it and enjoy it all the way.

Instead of using foil, why not use white cellophane since you cant get the leaf.

Sadly, I don't have access to the kind of prawns you used (That thing can be really tasty with garri ).
In moi-moi and corn pudding, I add everything desired and I can't say it ruins the taste. Depends on what you like to see when you cut it open.
About using cellophane, it's easier to imagine foil paper as leaf than it is to imagine cellophane.

Thanks dear for sharing i wish i can eat off the screen.
Btw, Wrapping with leaves has always been a herculean task...foil does not give me that perfect taste. Abeg Cindy teach me how to wrap so well.

Akpunnwa, ok. I exhausted the bundle of leaf i bought yesterday. I will buy a small bunch maybe tomorrow or next and give you a detailed description with pictures.

Thanks dear. I am looking fwd to the demo.

Hmm...someone told me of this meal but that was when I told the person of our own kind of corn meal (gradually going extinct). We call it Uwo (Ubo - depends on the dialect) Akpapa meaning corn porridge. We eat ours with boiled yam...I cooked it last weekend and felt very proud of myself.
I troway salute to all those who remember their traditional meals.

@enoquin, please share your recipe with me. I like to try out new recipes. Thanks.
@akpunwa, please don't be angry o. I haven't bought the leaf yet. As soon as i get it, will fulfil my promise.

PrettyCindy: @enoquin, please share your recipe with me. I like to try out new recipes. Thanks.

Well, it's partially the same as yours. Only we don't put it in leaves and wrap.
Ingredients:
Ground corn
Crayfish
Pepper
Oil
Seasoning
Pumpkin leaf
A little of scent leaf
Dry fish

Recipe:
Pour water into a pot...not too much (like a little bowl)
Put in your shredded, washed dry fish and let it steam
Add crayfish, pepper, salt and seasoning
Allow the water to boil, then pour in your ground corn.
The first few minutes will have the corn looking rubbery...just like when you cook diced unripe plantain...(that rubbery look before it solidifies) and then later it starts to solidify...
Use a ladle to turn
Add oil (the corn soaks the oil)
Turn with your ladle
Add your pumpkin and a sprinkle of scent leaf
Turn
Bring it down (it burns fast, if care is not taken)
Serve with your boiled yam.

Note: Two slices of boiled yam with a spoon of corn porridge is filling.

I wish I could upload the picture but it's more than 200kb...and I have tried to manipulate the picture's property but cannot

Ha! Interesting. Will definitely try it. Am just trying to imagine what it will taste like but i can't. If you use a nokia phone, you can reduce image size by shrinking. I had similar problem before but i got solutions right here on nairaland. Now i can take shots with my phone or camera and get high quality image with weight as low as 30kilobyte.
If you succeed in shrinking the picture, please post it. I will like to see what it looks like. I will make mine this week and post the picture here.
By the way, which tribe makes this food and what is the name of the food abi. Thanks alot.

I think its eaten in other parts of nigeria too.

chi meeee, ukpo with garri?

I love ukpo oka. good memories of my mom making it for us. i miss fresh corn pudding.

fast forward to June 20, so many fresh corn in store. I was ready to make Ukpo.
sadly my ukpo refused to get done. cooked for more than an hour and thirty mins still watery even though i didn't add zero water to my paste.

it was a waste of time and money. everything went down the sink.

Question: is it the corn? chemical? pesticides? not matured?

@army, i think its because the corn was not matured. If the corn seeds you peeled off the corn were soft and watery, it would definitely result to watery pudding. In such case, what you would have done would have been to mix it with very strong corn like the type used for roasting (oka akankpo). When next you want to prepare, make sure the corns are fresh (straight from the farm), peel off a single seed and squeeze with your hand. If it burst easily, then its not matured enough, if its too hard to the point that you have to use your teeth, then its too strong and would result to tasteless pudding. The one for corn pudding shouldn't be too hard and should have a fair quantity of juice inside the seeds.

@PrettyCindy: here it is...had to send it to my mail re-sized.

.

fast forward to June 20, so many fresh corn in store. I was ready to make Ukpo.
sadly my ukpo refused to get done. cooked for more than an hour and thirty mins still watery even though i didn't add zero water to my paste.

it was a waste of time and money. everything went down the sink.

Question: is it the corn? chemical? pesticides? not matured?

hmm, I'd actually wanted to make it first and then give the feedback here, because I would like to see how it turns out.



anyway, will try it and see how it goes sha.

PrettyCindy: Hi all, i want to share this recipe with my nairaland peeps. Ukpo Oka is also known as Corn pudding. Its a very special delicacy of the Ika - Ibo people of Delta state. The food is more common during the corn season because its made with fresh corn and absolutely nutritious, delicious and filling.
If you have any questions on the preparation, feel free to ask.

INGREDIENTS
Fresh corn
Small crayfish
Big crayfish or prawn
Fresh pepper
Onion (lots)
Palm oil
Seasoning (star or knorr)
Salt
Water

PREPARATION:
1) Peel off the husk of corn and remove all strands.
2) Using a sharp knife, slice down the seeds from the corn.
3) Add the fresh pepper, onion, small crayfish and blend. When blending, blend the onion, crayfish and pepper to a smooth paste while the corn will not be smooth. The corn should have a very rough texture and feel after blending.
4) Transfer to a container with wide opening and stir with a spatular for about 5minutes. If its too thick, add a little water.
5) Add the washed prawns, seasoning, salt, palm oil and stir further till all the oil is well incorporated.
6) Wrap in leaf (the type used for wrapping moin-moin or nylon if you don‘t have access to leaves.
7) Steam on high heat (same way for moin moin) for about 1 hr to 1hr 30mins. You will know its cooked when the content of the leaf or nylon becomes solid.

I encourage you to try it and please let us know if you enjoyed it.

P.S: This food is eaten with clean hands straight up.

In my place we add ripe plaintain pounded or grinded to give it a sweet taste,i tell u its very yummy i really miss it.

We add ripe plantain in my place too and I have alway thought it was called kwa ka.
@prettycindy will you get the same flavour if one uses raw corn measured in the market ( the type used for making akamu).

yes o..as the other poster asked..must it always be corn from the cob? or can one use the ones sold in market for akamu?

how far Tpia? were you able to make it?

tpia@:




hmm, I'd actually wanted to make it first and then give the feedback here, because I would like to see how it turns out.



anyway, will try it and see how it goes sha.

^yes, it was soft [like i pointed out]. Though it improved with baking.



i know yorubas eat it too-will try to find more info.