BANGA soup or Ofe Akwu is a delicious soup from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria made from palm nut fruit, an assortment of spices, and a variety of meat and fish. Banga Soup can be prepared using fresh catfish or dried/smoked fish.
Banga soup is highly nutritious; it is rich in minerals, contains unsaturated fat, helps in the treatment of Vitamin A deficiency, and contains many nutrients that support good brain function.
To prepare your Ofe Akwu, you will need:
Beef or any other meat of choice
1 large onion divided into 2 halves, one half to be chopped and the other half to be blended with the peppers
1 tablespoon Cameroon Pepper or cayenne pepper
Seasoning powder or Bouillon cubes
3 medium stockfish soaked in hot water
1 Can Palm-nut extract or fresh palm kernel fruit
Scotch bonnet pepper (as desired)
Banga Spice, a blended mixture of Irugeje and ataiko
1-2 tablespoons crushed beletete leaves or dried bitter leaves.
1 Oburunbebe stick
2 medium dried fish – soaked in hot water and deboned
4-6 Cups of water/stock
Ground crayfish
Salt to taste
HOW TO MAKE BANGA USING FRESH PALM KERNEL FRUIT
Boil the palm kernel fruit for 30 minutes until it becomes soft.
Transfer the nuts into a mortar and pound gently, making sure you don’t break the nuts.
Pour some hot water over the pounded nuts, squeeze and use a sieve to strain out the extract, do this a couple of times until you get all the extract from the nut.
Pour the extract into a pot and boil until it thickens and the oil rises to the top.
HOW TO PREPARE BANGA SOUP (OFE AKWU)
1. Rinse the meat; add the diced onions, Cameroon pepper, seasoning powder, and salt. Stir and leave to cook till the meat becomes tender.
2. Add the stockfish and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Remove the meat, stockfish, and meat stock from the pot and set them aside.
4. Pour the palm nut concentrate inside the same pot. Dilute with some water and leftover meat stock from the boiled meat. Cover and leave to cook until the oil begins to float on top of the soup.
5. Meanwhile, blend the scotch bonnet pepper and the remaining half onion and add to the palm nut.
6. Add the Banga spice, smoked fish, meat, seasoning powder, salt, crayfish, and Banga stick. Cover and leave to cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Stir in the beletete or the bitter leaves. Leave to simmer till thickened to your taste.
8. Serve hot with starch, pounded yam, semolina, eba, rice or fufu
Enjoy!
Source: ChefLolasKitchen
