Afang soup; a delight to behold and to eat. It is a special delicacy of the Efik and ibibio tribes of Nigeria. Some parts of Cameroon bordering that part of Nigeria also enjoy this delicacy.
Banga or ofe akwu is a flavorful Nigerian soup made with palm fruit, beef or dried fish, vegetables, and seasonings such as salt and chili pepper. The soup is traditionally paired with various starch, eba fufu dishes.
Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria.
ingredients :
1 kg palm fruits or 800g tinned Palm Fruit Concentrate
Beef
Dry fish
Vegetable: scent leave for Ofe Akwu or dried and crushed bitter leaves for Delta-style Banga Soup
Banga or ofe akwu is a flavorful Nigerian soup made with palm fruit, beef or dried fish, vegetables, and seasonings such as salt and chili pepper. The soup is traditionally paired with various starch, eba fufu dishes.
Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria.
ingredients :
1 kg palm fruits or 800g tinned Palm Fruit Concentrate
Beef
Dry fish
Vegetable: scent leave for Ofe Akwu or dried and crushed bitter leaves for Delta-style Banga Soup
Bitterleaf soup is one of the most traditional soups in Nigeria. It is native to the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria and most Igbos will tell you that this is their favourite soup in the world.
The name is quite misleading in that a well prepared Bitterleaf Soup should not have even the slightest bitterness. This is achieved by washing and squeezing the bitter leaves (and changing the water at intervals) till all traces of bitterness has been washed off.
1large onion (about 3/4pound), cut into medium dice
1/2teaspoonsalt
2poundscarrots, peeled and cut into 1/2–inchrounds
5cupsstock
1/4cuprolled oats
Lemon juice, to taste
Ginger juice, to taste
Ground cumin, to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and salt. Sweat until onions are softened (about 5 to 8 minutes). Stir often to prevent browning.
Add the carrots, cover pot, and cook over low heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir to prevent browning.
Add stock and oats to pot. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 25 minutes, covered, until carrots are very tender.
Blend the soup in a blender or food processor until creamy. Add additional stock to desired consistency.
Add lemon and ginger juices, and cumin to taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
First, prepare the spices. Crack the shells off the African nutmeg (ehuru), then roast the nuts over a flame before grinding it into a fine powder. Grind the uziza and uda seeds into a fine powder. Blend the red pepper and yellow scent peppers.
Wash the chopped cowtail thoroughly. Season with salt and soy seasoning cubes (I use Knorr brand). Cook until it’s tender. (You can use a pressure cooker to cook it faster if you have one.)
When the meat is tender, add the blended peppers. Add the ground spices and 3 cups of water. Allow the mixture to boil for about 5 minutes.
Throw in the sliced basil and stir. Taste for salt. Allow to boil for 2 more minutes, then turn off the heat.
Edikaikong soup is the real vegetable soup of the Ibibios or Efiks people of South South region in Nigeria. The soup involves a lots of preparation and honestly, requires me to be a very good mood to get the consistency right. It’s delicious, nutritious, and full of essential vitamins only when eating fresh.. So here’s my hands down recipe from my grandma on how to make the very Authentic EdikanKong soup.
Ingredients
I kg (5 bunch of Pumpkin leave) ssameame as Ugwu
500 g water leaves
2 handful Ntong (scent leaves or Effirin
I kg Assorted Meat
Ponmo
200 ml (2 cups) Palm oil
I medium onions
I Cup of periwinkles
Head I Large stockfish
2 Medium Sized Smoked Fish
6 fresh Yellow pepper (pounded)
I Cup pounded Crayfish
1/2 Cup Dried Shrimps (slightly pounded)
1 tbs black Pepper
2 stock cubes
Salt
Steps
Before cooking, I like to pick, wash properly and allow to drain then slice all the vegetables. Ugwu, water leaves and scent leaves. Put each in separate bowls.
Wash you Meats, seasons accordingly and cook till almost tender, then add the washed Stockfish head and cook… Make sure the meat stock is almost Dried…we don’t need water in the soup, cause the water leaves and palm will generate stock for the soup.
Before the stock Dried out completely, add water leaves, pour in the palm oil, add Periwinkles, pounded fresh pepper and stir properly. cook for 3-5 mins. (Ensure you don’t over cook the water leaves)
Add in Ugwu, scent leaves, pounded shrimps, smoked fish, black pepper, stock cubes and stir the content of the pot very well..Cover the pot and leave to cook for 5mins
Lastly, according to my Grandma’s recipe, you add the pounded Crayfish and taste for salt, give it a stir and that’s it.(pls be mindful of the salt and stock cubes, cause vegetable soup can easily become salty)
Remove from fire and enjoy with Fufu, Pounded Yam, Semo, Samvita or even Eba.
Efo Riro – The African Stewed Spinach also popularly known as Efo riro is a one-pot stew with layers of flavor. It requires quite a number of ingredients but little work from the cook putting it all together (as long as you already have all your ingredients prepped).
Egusi pepper soup is a popular Nigerian Pepper Soup dish. It’s particularly common among the people of Niger-Delta. It is basically an Egusi (melon seeds) infused pepper soup dish.
Egusi Pepper soup is mostly prepared with fresh fish though different fish types can be incorporated. It pretty much seems like there are no hard and fast rules with regards to the choice of proteins used for this dish, although like I said earlier, fresh fish, especially Catfish is used in most cases.
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Ground Egusi (Melon Seeds)
Assorted Meats (I’m using Goat meat, Ponmo, Cow leg)
1 Medium Fresh Fish ( I’m using Tilapia)
2-3 Medium Pieces Stock fish or Dried/Smoked Fish
Handful Dry or Fresh Efinrin/ Basil leaves
2-3 Tablespoon Ground Pepper ( Ata gungun)
1-2 Scotch Bonnet (Ata Rodo)
1 Small Onion Chopped
2 Uda Pod
3 Ehuru/ Calabash Nutmeg Seeds
1 Levelled Tablespoon Uziza Seeds
If you haven’t got Uda, Uziza and Ehuru, just two tablespoons pepper soup spice will suffice
1 Tablespoon Ground Crayfish
2 Knorr Chicken Cubes or your preferred bouillon cubes
1 Teaspoon Your Preferred Beef/Chicken Seasoning ( I use Aromat)
Egusi Soup is thickened with ground melon seeds and contains leafy and other vegetables, seasonings, and meat. It is often eaten with dishes like amala, pounded yam (iyan), fufu, Eba etc.