Name: Efo Riro With Kale and Whitefish
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients: 1 medium onion, quartered through root end; 3 plum tomatoes, quartered; 1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, cut into large pieces; 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile; 4 garlic cloves; 2 Tbsp. dried bitter leaf; 4 skinless tilapia or other whitefish fillets (about 1⅔lb. total), cut into 2" pieces; 4 tsp. Old Bay seasoning; Vegetable oil (for frying; about 1 cup); 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; 2 Tbsp. double-concentrated tomato paste; 2 tsp. dried thyme; 1½ tsp. garam masala; ½ tsp. ground turmeric; 1 cube Maggi shrimp or chicken bouillon; 3 Tbsp. dried shrimp, rinsed; 4 tsp. powdered irú (dawadawa; fermented locust beans); 1 lb. (2 bunches) kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn into 2" pieces; Steamed puna yams or rice (for serving)

Photo of Efo Riro a Nigerian fish stew in a dutch oven.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

When Kemi Seriki, a home cook in NYC, taught us how to make this Nigerian dish of stewed greens, she packed a week’s worth of spices into the pot—some traditional, some less so. We pared the ingredients but kept the essence of Seriki’s stew: the bold chile heat, pleasant funk of fermented locust beans, and dried shrimp of her native Nigeria and the new world flavors like Old Bay she uses in her cooking today.

Recipe notes

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