The Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is
native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria. In the
Niger Delta areas, Banga soup is commonly eaten with various fufu
recipes – Pounded Yam, Semolina, Garri and Cassava Fufu. In the South
Eastern parts of Nigeria, Banga Soup is referred to as Ofe Akwu where
Ofe means Soup / Stew and Akwu means palm fruit and is used mainly as
stew for the
White Rice recipe.
The palm fruit oil extract used in cooking Banga Soup / Stew is quite
different from the Palm Oil used in cooking Nigerian food recipes. Palm
Oil is pure oil extracted from the palm fruit pulp at high temperatures
while the palm fruit oil extract used for the Banga Soup is extracted
at a very low temperature and is a mixture of oil and water. Palm fruit
oil extracted for Banga Soup contains less saturated fat than palm oils.
Ingredients for Banga Soup
- Palm Fruits – 1 kg
- Beef
- Dry Fish
- Vegetable – Scent Leaves
- Onions – 2 medium bulbs
- Crayfish – A handful | 2 tablespoons of ground Crayfish
- Salt and Chilli Pepper – to taste
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes
Before you cook the Nigerian Banga Soup
- Wash and cook the palm fruits till done. A good sign that the
palm fruit is done is that you will notice cracks on the flesh of the
fruits. The palm fruit is also soft to the bite.
- Pound the palm fruits in a mortar with a pestle till all the
flesh are separated from the nut to form a smooth pulp as shown in the
photo.
- Cook the beef and the dry fish with 1 bulb of diced onion and the 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes till done.
- While you have the beef cooking, extract the palm fruit oil from
the palm fruit pulp by washing it in warm water. Small quantities of the
palm fruit pulp should be washed in as small quantity of warm water as
possible. If the palm fruit oil starts getting too thick, pour the
liquid into another container through a sieve to prevent the palm fruit
fibres from entering into the oil that will be used in cooking the Banga
Soup. Repeat this till all the palm fruit pulp has been washed.
A more efficient extraction process can be achieved by separating the
palm nuts from the pulp before washing the pulp in warm water.
During the extraction process, if you think that there is still some
oil on previously washed palm fruit pulp; re-wash these when you change
the water before washing new palm fruit pulp.
Water should be used sparingly during the extraction process so that
at the end, the extracted liquid will have the consistency of evaporated
milk or tomato juice bearing in mind that you still have to add the
beef stock.
- Leave the extracted palm fruit oil to stand for some time then
slowly pour this into the pot that will be used to cook the Banga Soup /
Stew, taking care not to pour the tiny pieces of fibre that have
settled at the bottom.
- Wash and cut the scent leaves into tiny pieces. The scent leaves
are what gives the Banga Soup its unique aroma and taste. If you are
outside Nigeria, this may be hard to find, so you can use pumpkin leaves
or any other vegetable in place of scent leaves.
- Cut the remaining bulb of onion, grind the crayfish and pepper and set aside.
Cooking Directions
- Set the pot of palm fruit oil on the stove and start cooking at
high heat. Leave to boil till you notice come clear oil at the surface
of the Banga Stew. If you think that the Banga Soup is watery, cook till
the soup has thickened to the consistency you like for your stews.
- Now, add the beef, dry fish and stock, the onions, crayfish and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the scent leaves and salt to taste. Leave to cook for 2 mins. The Banga Soup is done. Serve with White Rice or use the Banga Soup to eat Garri, Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
