Yam and Shrimp Fritters (Ojojo)

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There are yam balls and there are yam fritters. In my opinion, the yam fritters are a winner. I could eat them all day, I could eat them all night. And yes, my ajebutters ate them with some chopped fresh tomato sauce and with glee. They even ate it all and before I got to it, it was only a few left 🙂 I was still happy that they enjoyed it. You may even have it with honey mustard if you please 🙂 I do and I like it.

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I always used to hear about yam fritters i.e. Ojojo (pronounced Ojorjor), but I had a slight fear of the raw yam causing me to itch. I see a lot of different styles to making this street food on the Facebook food group, So you think you can cook and it was exiting for me to make mine. It was fun fun fun!

Speaking of groups, It was an eventful weekend. So, just like I said earlier, I am part of the Facebook group “So you think you can cook” It is the largest cooking group on Facebook with over 200k members. Well, it was hijacked by one of the admins who is also a Nigerian food blogger. I was in awe when I heard about it. In a bid to illegally monetize the group, he deleted all the admin members, removed the pictures and started posting links from his blog and vlog. Long story, the group has been restored to it’s original setting with the original admins. I’m still a little shaken up, I still wonder how a person wakes up and tries to reap where he/she did not sow. How is it that the same person who was welcomed into the group and given a platform to share his recipes turn around and stab those who stood with him in the back. But I know GOD has fought this battle and won this one.

Anyway, back to the food! I have to say I have a surprising kind of love for Yam fritters. The Yorubas call them Ojojo. Apart from Akara, Ojojo; usually made from water yam is one of the plenty blessings when it comes to Nigerian cuisines and Nigerian street food (or snack). It is quite versatile in the sense that, it is usually made plain, but you may also add anything to it. For my version I added some chopped shrimps. It was absolutely delicious. Some people ask how they can get it to the consistency where it is really crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and not watery. What I did was to simply grate the yam; then run it through a food processor to whip it. The peeled yam may even go straight into the food processor or a blender and it needs no water to puree. Water yam is very very soft, so trust me it will be fine

Can’ tell the difference between yam and water yam? I used to find it hard to differentiate between the regular yam and water yam too; until my mother showed me. The water yam has a significantly smooth exterior with a few roots and the regular yam has quite a lot of ridges. I hope this helps 🙂

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whole water yam courtesy of google

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Grated water yam courtesy of my sister Remmy

 

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Anyway enjoy this simple recipe

5.0 from 1 reviews
Yam and Shrimp Fritters (Ojojo)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
  • 1 medium water yam
  • ½ lb of fresh shrimp(deveined and chopped)
  • 2 yellow chilies, habanero or ata-rodo(chopped)
  • half of a small onion (chopped)
  • ¼ tsp dry pepper(add more to your taste)
  • a little bowl of warm water
  • salt
  • oil for frying. Any cooking oil will do
Instructions
  1. Peel yam by removing the skin with a knife; then drop the white part into cold water.
  2. Wash and grate each the yam with the smaller side of a grater. You may puree or blend it in a food processor or blender (you may blend the onion and chilies along with the yam or just chop it into the yam batter and mix with a spatula).Season with salt and dry pepper to taste. Whip with a wooden spoon, a whisk or a food processor). Add the shrimps; then mix with a spatula or whisk. Heat oil to 350 degrees and using a tbsp. or a cookie scoop, drop little to medium sized dollops of the yam puree into the oil and fry.
  3. Dip the scoop into the warm water before scooping the yam into the oil. This helps the batter to slide off easily into the oil. After frying, serve with any sauce. I like mine with honey mustard or a regular Nigerian tomato sauce
Notes
If the yam puree seems watery, place it into the fridge uncovered for about an hour just like you would raw chicken to dry out the water
You may also use any type of potatoes for this recipe

 

 

 

14 comments

  1. Ifeanyi Nsofor says:

    Well done sis! Mighty proud of you. Easy to make and your photos are great. To be honest, I’ve really found it difficult to differentiate between yam and water yam.

    • Nma Okpara says:

      Yay!My brother is here. Thank you very much. I used to find it hard to differentiate between the regular yam and water yam until my mother showed me. The water yam has a significantly smooth exterior with a few roots and the regular yam has quite a lot of ridges. I hope this helps 🙂

  2. Grace Gwaza says:

    Please which is the correct Facebook page of ‘you think you can cook’. There are so many and i dont want to join the fake one. Thanks for the recipe. Trying it soon.

  3. Ismael Olusola Jimoh says:

    When you accidentally find a recipe by your recipe connoisseur.

    Thinking of making this with dumdum for a few friends I made recently.

    Now I know where to find the Jollof rice recipe 🙂

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