Banga Soup🧉 HEALTHY EATING ~ Naija Style 🍽

A very popular Nigerian dish, also called Palm nut Soup. It is a soup that is native to the Southernarts of Nigeria. It has different versions.. I’ve also learned and tried the Ivorian version. Whoa, it is just amazing. I had it with an accompaniment they call futu, Superb 👌

Back to Nigeria 🇳🇬 👩‍🍳

Like I said earlier, we have different versions 👇

The Igbos call theirs Ofe Akwu
The Efiks, Abak Atama
and we have the Delta Version.

You see, unity in diversity 😉

We’ll focus on the Efik version, and for those of you who are interested in the other versions, click on the links below 👇

https://www.myactivekitchen.com/banga-soup-niger-delta-way/

https://sisijemimah.com/2015/09/22/ofe-akwu/

Before we continue, let’s look at the health benefits of palm nut/oil

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree.

Palm oil is used for preventing vitamin A deficiency, cancer, brain disease, aging; and treating malaria, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cyanide poisoning. Palm oil is used for weight loss and increasing the body’s metabolism. (https://www.rxlist.com/palm_oil/supplements.htm)

Okay! Here we go..

Recipe Ingredients

400g canned Palm fruit pulp/500g Palm Fruits
500g cooked assorted meat
1-2 medium dried fish
400g stock fish (optional)
Stock cubes
Fresh bell peppers
1 medium onion bulb, finely chopped
Meat stock
2-3 tablespoons ground crayfish
1 aidan fruit or uyayak pod
1/2 cup fresh shrimps (Optional)
1 handful atama leaves
Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash, cut, season and cook your assorted meat. While cooking, also add your cleaned dried fish and stock fish. Cook until tender. Also cook your shrimps separately.
If you are using fresh palm kernel fruit, boil its skin until soft. Pound lightly in a mortar to extract the oil. (NB: do not break the nuts while pounding.) Pour in some hot water and strain the extract through a sieve. Put in a pot and boil until it thickens and the oil rises to the top. For the canned palm nut pulp, pour into a pot and heat until the oil begins to rise to the top.
Add the meat stock, depending on the consistency you want.The lesser the stock, the thicker your soup would be. Leave to boil for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped onions, assorted meats, stock fish and dried fish. Mix well and add the crushed pepper, ground crayfish , uyayak pod (make sure you break it into two) and stock cubes. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes (adjust seasoning if necessary). Add your shrimps and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the atama leaves, simmer for 1 minute and your soup is ready. Serve with Pounded Yam, Amala, Eba, Wheat Meal, Semovita.

Alrighty 😋 Bon appetit 🍴

Hope you enjoyed it. Make sure you make one for yourself and family 🥰

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Thanks for reading 🥰

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See you in my next article ✌️

Bye 👋