History

Okra arrived in Charleston with West African captives through the trans-Atlantic slave trade and grew into a Lowcountry pantry staple. Okra soup as cooked at Bertha's Kitchen and across Black-owned soul food kitchens descends directly from Gullah-Geechee cookery: stewed tomatoes, okra to thicken, oxtail or beef shin to fortify. The dish is served over rice or eaten as a one-pot meal. Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor's 1970 book Vibration Cooking documented the Gullah-Geechee tradition; her work informs how chefs like BJ Dennis present the dish today.

Make it at home

Yield Serves 6Hands-on 25 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg oxtail or beef shin, bone-in
  • 2 tbsp neutral oil
  • 2 large yellow onions, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 800g tinned plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 2 litres beef stock
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1kg fresh okra, trimmed and sliced 1cm thick
  • Steamed rice to serve, hot pepper vinegar

Method

  1. Season the oxtail generously with salt and pepper. Brown in oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat, in batches.
  2. Lift the meat, add the onions and cook 6 minutes until soft. Add garlic; cook 1 minute.
  3. Return the oxtail. Add tomatoes, stock, paprika and bay leaf.
  4. Bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, 2 hours 30 minutes until meat falls off the bone.
  5. Lift out the oxtail; pull the meat, discard bones.
  6. Add the sliced okra to the pot; simmer 20 minutes until tender and slightly thickened.
  7. Return the meat. Taste and adjust salt. Serve over rice with hot pepper vinegar.

Tip from the editors. Don't trim the okra ahead; cut it just before adding to keep the slime contained. Some slime is the point; it thickens the soup the way a roux would in Cajun cookery.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat okra soup

Okra soup in Charleston

Bertha's Kitchen ★ 4.7

north-charleston

Bertha's Kitchen on Meeting Street Road in North Charleston runs Albertha Grant's soul food cafeteria from 1979. Fried chicken, okra soup, red rice; the Grant family at the steam table.

Order: Fried chicken, okra soup, red rice, lima beans with smoked turkey neck

Why locals love it: A North Charleston cafeteria steam table that has run since 1979 and won James Beard's America's Classics in 2017. Tourist guides barely list it.

Tip: Lunch only Mon-Sat, cash and card. Arrive before 13:00 weekdays or the fried chicken is gone.

2332 Meeting Street Rd, North Charleston, SC 29405

Hannibal's Kitchen ★ 4.5

eastside

Hannibal's Kitchen has fed the Eastside of Charleston soul food since 1985. Lunches under $15 include crab rice, smothered pork chops, fried whiting and rice with two sides.

Try: Crab rice, smothered pork chop, fried whiting, lima beans

Tip: Counter order, dining-room seat. Lunch beats dinner; the line peaks 12:30 to 13:30 weekdays.

16 Blake St, Charleston, SC 29403

More cities are in research. Want okra soup covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →