How to Prepare Palm Oil Rice

Palm oil rice, also known as native jollof rice, is a kind of rice eaten in Nigeria. Unlike the popular jollof rice that is prepared using vegetable oil and tomato as the base, palm oil rice is prepared with only palm oil and other local ingredients.

If you are tired of eating the regular jollof rice or rice with stew then this post is for you. This post will list the necessary ingredients required and the step-by-step procedures for preparing palm oil rice.

Ingredients used in preparing palm oil rice are;

• Rice
• Palm oil
• Dried fish (Optional)
• Smoked fish (Optional)
• Stockfish (Optional)
• Meat (Optional)
• Onion
• Pepper
• Salt
• Seasoning cubes
• Scent leaf
• Crayfish
• Curry leaf (Optional)

Directions for preparing the palm oil rice

Step 1

Measure out your rice, wash and parboil it in a pot with enough water. Once it has parboiled, drain the water and rinse the rice with clean water then put it on a sieve and keep it aside where dirt won’t get to it.

Step 2

If you are using fish or meat, remove the bones and wash them before putting it in a pot, spice it with chopped onion, pepper, salt and seasoning cubes to your taste. It is preferable to ise stock fish and smoked fish as it brings out that local taste, but you can also use dried fish, kpomo, prawn, and any meat of your choice. When boiling, add little water that will help your fish or meat cook well, once they are cooked, use a spoon to remove the fish so they don’t break into pieces, if you are using meat, leave it in the pot and allow it to boil with other ingredients.

Step 3

Add two spoonfuls of palm oil to the beef or fish stock, stir and allow to boil for seven to ten minutes. Depending on the quantity of rice, you can put more or less palm oil, but try not to put too much oil to avoid excess oil in the food. Once the oil has boiled well and mixed fully with the fish stock, add your blended or pounded pepper and crayfish with chopped onions to the boiling pot and leave for some minutes, not more than three minutes. Afterwards, add salt and seasoning cubes to it with water enough to cook the rice. Remember the rice has been parboiled already, so just add the quantity of water that will slightly cover the rice so the rice won’t get too soft.

Step 4

Once the water has boiled thoroughly and mixed with the oil well, check for taste and add more salt or seasoning cube as you prefer. Pour the already parboiled rice gently into the pot to avoid splash, stir with a wooden spoon and cook on low heat to avoid burning. Slowly dip the fish into the rice and allow it to continue cooking. You can adjust the heat from time to time.

Step 5

While the rice is cooking, pick your scent leaf and curry leaf, wash and slice. Scent leaf is compulsory for the unique taste and aroma it adds to it, but in the absence of it you can still enjoy your palm oil rice happily, curry leaf isn’t compulsory and should be in small quantity.

If you like the taste of partly cooked onion in your food, you can chop onions to the desired shape. Check the rice, if the water in it is remaining little, sprinkle the vegetable on top of the rice and cover the pot until the water dries up. After you’ve confirmed the water is dry, low the heat of the gas and stir the rice very well, sprinkle the onion on top and cover the pot for two minutes. Turn off the light and serve hot?