by Benedicta Ezekwe
The Nigerian Afang Soup is native to the Ibibios of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria but enjoyed by all Nigerians. It is also very nutritious as the soup consists mainly of vegetables. Afang Soup is prepared with a generous quantity of Water leaves and the wild herbal Okazi leaves.
The Nigerian Afang Soup should not be confused with the Okazi Soup native to the people of Imo and Abia States of Nigeria. While Afang soup is prepared with basically vegetables, Okazi Soup is simply the Nigerian Egusi Soup cooked with thinly sliced Okazi leaves.
Ingredients for Afang Soup
- 400g sliced Okazi/Afang leaves | about 4 handfuls
- 250g Water leaves
- 20 – 25 cl Palm oil (about 1 drinking glass)
- Beef, Kanda and Dry fish
- 2 tablespoons Crayfish
- Pepper, Salt and Crayfish – to taste
- 2 Knorr cubes
Notes about the ingredients
- Great alternative to water leaves is Lamb’s Lettuce, known as Canonigos in Spanish.
- Yes, you need that much palm oil. 🙂
Before you cook the Nigerian Afang Soup
- Wash, drain and slice the water leaves into tiny pieces. Grind or pound the sliced Okazi leaves. In Nigerian markets, the sellers of these sliced Okazi leaves have a machine for grinding it. You can also grind it with your blender with a small quantity of water. Take a look at the ground Okazi leaves.
- Grind your pepper and crayfish.
Cooking Directions
- Boil the beef and Kanda and stock cubes in a very small quantity of water. When done, add the dry fish and cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Now add the palm oil, crayfish and pepper. Once it starts boiling, add the afang (okazi) leaves, water leaves and periwinkle. When the okazi leaves have softened and the water has dried up a bit, add salt to taste and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes. The Afang soup is ready!
- Serve with Garri (Eba), Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
(Via All Nigerian Recipes)
Editor’s Note: This recipe has been edited to remove the onions. Our expert cooks agree that it is not a valid ingredient of Affang Soup.
