WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT A WELL PREPARED AFANG SOUP?
Welcome to my blog. This is my first post and I hope you find it interesting. Today, I will be putting you through how to prepare my favorite Nigerian soup “Afang”.
Afang soup which originates from the southern Nigeria is a special delicacy of the Efik tribe of the southern Nigeria. It is highly nutritious as it is prepared with vegetables which are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.
Afang soup is unique for its nutritious taste because it is made with lots of vegetables and palm oil. Afang leaf popularly known as okazi leaf by the Igbos can be blended or soaked in hot water till it softens. There are different ways of preparing afang soup depends on your choice but I prefer the roughly blended okazi method.
Ingredients needed
- 3-4 Bunches of waterleaf
- Meats
- Stockfish
- Pomo
- Palm oil also known as red oil
- Smoked fish
- Periwinkles
- Blended crayfish
- Meat stock
- Onions
- Seasoning cubes
- Dry black or fresh yellow pepper
- Salt (optional)
Let’s get down to preparation.
So when preparing afang soup, there are different methods of making it. Prepare all your ingredients like the boiled meat with smoked fish, crayfish, stockfish, etc. Then wash and cut the waterleaf, blend the okazie(roughly or smoothly depending on your preference). I will be using the roughly blended one.
Blended okazi leaves (Afang)
Washed and chopped water leaves.
Now let’s start cooking
- Add your palm oil to the pot containing the meats and the stock. I recommend 2spoons of palm oil depending on your size of soup. Leave the palm oil to boil a bit with the stock for about 5 minutes.
Seasoned beef stock with stockfish and crayfish
- Add the water-leaf, stir and allow to wilt into the stock for about 2 -3 minutes.
- Add your periwinkle or any other seafoods like prawns if available into the water leaves.
- Add the blended okazi leaf but make sure the water isn’t too much to avoid watering soup. Then lower the heat to avoid overcooked water-leaves.
- Stir and add a little palm oil if the soup is looking dry. Then taste for seasoning and salt.
Let it boil for a few minutes so that the okazi can mesh with the other ingredients .Stir again and finally, your afang soup is ready to be served. Yummy!
And finally serve your delicious afang soup with your favorite swallow. it can either be Semo,Eba, or Pounded yam but I like mine to be served with Semo or Eba LOL.
Afang soup
That’s exactly how I prepare my afang soup. Hope you enjoy it.
