Banga Soup (Ofe Akwu)
Photo: Ehinomen55, CC BY-SA 4.0
Banga soup is a rich palm nut soup from the Niger Delta and south eastern Nigeria, where it is also called ofe akwu. The base is palm nut concentrate boiled until it thickens and throws off its own red oil, then built up with chilli, banga spice, crayfish, smoked and dried fish and assorted meats. Cousins exist in Ghana as abenkwan and in Cameroon as mbanga. Serve it with fufu or pounded yam.
Instructions
Rinse the meat and dried fish well and put them in a pot. Season with salt, onion and seasoning cubes, cover with water, and boil until the meat is tender.
Lift the meat and fish out of the pot and set them aside. Keep the cooking liquid, because you will need it later to adjust the soup.
Put the palm nut concentrate in a clean pot with twice its volume of water and stir well. Boil uncovered for 25 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and oil floats on the surface.
Stir in the blended chilli paste along with the cooked meat and fish. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the banga spice, the oburunbebe stick, the pepper and the ground crayfish. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
Taste and adjust the salt, and loosen the soup with some of the reserved liquid if it is too thick.
Add the fresh seafood and the banga spice leaves, bitter leaf or dried basil. Cook for a few minutes until the seafood is just done.
Give the soup a last stir and serve hot with starch, banku, fufu, pounded yam, rice, boiled plantain or boiled yam.
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