13/12/2025
NKWOBI ( SPICY COW FOOT )
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RECIPE INFORMATION
▪️Recipe cuisine: Eastern Nigerian (Igbo) recipe
▪️Recipe course: Meat (cow) recipe
▪️Alternative names: Spicy cow foot
▪️Served as: Side dish or Appetizer
▪️Preparing method: Cooking
▪️Main ingredients: Cow foot, palm oil, ugba, utazi leaf, spices and seasonings
▪️Recipe written by: Food Research Kitchen
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DESCRIPTIONS
▪️Nkwobi is a spicy cow meat recipe that is prepared with cow foot that is mixed in spicy palm oil sauce.
▪️Nkwobi is a classic and very popular delicacy which originated from the Eastern (Igbo) part of Nigeria.
▪️Nkwobi is one of the best Igbo traditional mouthwatering delicacies that is made with a cow foot (popularly known as cow leg).
▪️There is no traditional marriage, chieftaincy title, traditional events or special traditional gatherings in Igbo land without serving Nkwobi.
▪️Nkwobi and isi ewu are really similar recipes, but the difference between them is that, Isi ewu is prepared with "Goat head", while Nkwobi is prepared with "Cow foot and Ugba (oil beans seed)".
▪️We want to use this golden opportunity to specially thank the Igbo tribe of Nigeria, for giving us such a beautiful, delicious and mouthwatering recipe called Nkwobi.
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MAIN INGREDIENTS
🔹Cow foot ( 1 kg or more of choice )
🔹Palm oil ( 15cl ) 150ml
🔹Utazi leaves ( 8 leaves )
🔹Ugba ( 1 cup )
🔹Seasoning cubes ( to taste )
🔹Ehuru seeds ( African nutmeg ) 5 seeds
🔹Potash ( Akanwu ) little
🔹Fresh pepper ( to taste )
🔹Onions ( 2 big bulbs )
🔹Salt ( to taste )
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
🔸Crayfish ( 2 tablespoons ground )
🔸Beef meat mixed spices ( 1 tbsp )
ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS
♦️Potash or ngu or baking soda
♦️Fresh or dry peppers
GARNISH THE NKWOBI WITH
▪Sliced utazi leaves
▪Sliced ring onions
▪Sliced peppers ( optional )
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PREPARATION OF THE INGREDIENTS
▪Cow foot comes with a thick bone, you can tell the butcher to help you, remove the thick bones and scrape out excess hair and dirt from the meat, then cut into sizes of your choice. Then thoroughly clean the cow foot, before cooking it.
▪Dissolve the potash in a bowl of water, about 4 tablespoons of water, stir and pass it through sieve. Potash is what makes the palm oil curdle. You can use ngu to substitute the potash.
▪Place the ehuru seeds in an empty pan and leave to heat up while tossing once in a while, until you hear them crack open. Crack and remove the outer shell of the ehuru seeds, then grind with a dry mill.
▪Cut one of the onions into 4 chunks to cook the cow meat and slice the other into rings to garnish the nkwobi.
▪Wash the ugba with clean water and soak it in warm water for few minutes, then rinse before setting it aside.
▪Grind the crayfish and set it aside, if only you are using it.
▪Grind/pound majority of your fresh peppers to cook the cow meat and slice the other remaining peppers to garnish the nkwobi.
▪Divide the utazi leaves into 2 parts, thinly sliced one part of the utazi leaves and cut the other half into tiny pieces. The first part will be used for garnishing, while the other part will be used when preparing the Nkwobi.
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PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING THE NKWOBI
Nkwobi is prepared in 4 parts:
1. Cooking the cow foot ( Step 1 and 2 ).
2. Preparing the nkwobi sauce ( Step 3 ).
3. Assembling the ingredients ( Step 4 - 8 ).
4. Garnishing the nkwobi ( Step 9 ).
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PART 1
COOKING THE COW FOOT
Step 1: Cook the cow foot with large quantity of water. Season the cow foot with the large chunks of onions, ground peppers, seasoning cubes, salt, and beef mixed spices. Top up water from time to time or as necessary, but make sure it is little quantity of water, because we do not want the meat stock in the pot, when the cow meat is well done. Cook the cow foot for 1 hour or until completely soft. Always make sure the water of the meat dries up when the meat is done.
Step 2: When the cow foot is well cooked, remove the chucks of onions and set aside the cooked cow meat.
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PART 2
PREPARING THE NKWOBI SAUCE
Step 3: Pour your palm oil in a dry empty pot and also pour in the potash liquid. Stir as you pour in the potash liquid continuously, until the colour of the palm oil changes from red to yellow. The palm oil starts to curdle and turn yellow.
Note: Too much of the potash causes stomach upset, so be mindful of the quantity you use.
Note: You can also prepare the sauce in the mortar.
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PART 3
ASSEMBLING THE INGREDIENTS
Step 4: Then add in the ground peppers, seasoning cube, salt, ground ehuru seeds, ground crayfish and stir well to mix up the whole contents.
Step 5: Then gently add in the ugba and the finely cut utazi leaves.
Step 6: Then add in the cooked cow foot and stir, until well combined.
Note: You can add little of the meat stock to adjust the thickness if you wish. The thickness should be to your preference of choice.
Step 8: Place the pot on low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Heat until the nkwobi is hot, stirring all the time to make sure it does not burn and turn off the heat.
Note: The purpose of this step 8 is to make the nkwobi hot.
Note: Don't over heat it, so that your palm oil will not melt.
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PART 4
GARNISHING THE NKWOBI
Step 9: Then serve the nkwobi in a mini wooden mortar or bowl and garnish it with your sliced ring onions, sliced peppers and sliced utazi leaves.
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