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User:Fatimah Bello/Banga Soup (Ofe Akwu)

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Banga soup is a rich, aromatic palm fruit soup widely prepared across Southern Nigeria, particularly among the Urhobo, Isoko, Ijaw, and Igbo peoples. Known as Ofe Akwu in Igbo and Izuwo Banga in Urhobo, it is distinct from other Nigerian soups due to its use of fresh palm fruit extract rather than palm oil, giving it a unique flavour no other soup replicates.

Total 00:30
Yield 4-6

Ingredients

  • Assorted meat (beef, shaki, ponmo, oxtail)
  • Stockfish (panla), soaked and cleaned
  • Smoked fish, deboned
  • Ground crayfish
  • Onion
  • Scotch bonnet pepper (rodo)
  • Beletete (dried banga herb)
  • Oburunbebe stick (banga spice)
  • Ataiko (alligator pepper)
  • Iru (locust bean)
  • Uziza leaves
  • Seasoning cubes

Instructions

  1. 1
    Boil palm fruits until soft, pound to loosen flesh, squeeze out extract through a sieve and set aside
  2. 2
    Season and cook assorted meat with onion and seasoning. Reserve the stock.
  3. 3
    Pour palm fruit extract into a pot and cook on medium heat until it thickens and oil rises to the surface
  4. 4
    Add banga spices, beletete, ataiko, and iru. Stir well.
  5. 5
    Add cooked meats, stockfish, and smoked fish. Pour in reserved meat stock.
  6. 6
    Add ground crayfish, blended pepper, and remaining seasoning. Simmer on low heat until thick.
  7. 7
    Stir in shredded uziza leaves and cook for 3–5 minutes only.
  8. 8
    Serve hot with starch, pounded yam, eba, or fufu.
Category
Dinner

Recipe Attribution

Wikibooks Cookbook
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/User:Fatimah_Bello/Banga_Soup_(Ofe_Akwu)