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: Starch, 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 Boiled White Rice.
The palm fruit oil extract used in cooking Banga Soup / Stew is quite
different from the red 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
1 kg Palm Fruits or 800g tinned Palm Fruit
Beef
Dry Fish
Vegetable: Scent Leaves for Ofe Akwu or dried and crushed bitterleaves for Delta-style Banga Soup
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons ground
crayfish
Salt and Chilli Pepper (to taste)
Ogiri Okpei (Iru)
1-2 big stock cubes
Before you cook the Nigerian Banga Soup, extract the palm fruit
concentrate from the palm fruits. If using the tinned palm fruit
concentrate, open the tin and set aside.Cook the beef and the dry fish
with 1 bulb of diced onion and the stock cubes till done.Wash and cut
the scent leaves into tiny pieces.
The scent leaves give the Banga Stew (Ofe Akwu) 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. If
cooking Delta-style Banga Soup for starch, you should either cook this
soup without vegetables or use dried and crushed bitter leaves.Cut the
remaining bulb of onion. Pound the crayfish, ogiri okpei and pepper in a
mortar and set aside. You can also grind them with a dry mill.
Cooking Directions: Set the pot of palm fruit extract on the stove and
start cooking at high heat. Leave to boil till you notice come red 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 leave to boil very well.Add the scent leaves or other
vegetable and salt to taste. Leave to simmer for about 2 mins. The Banga
Soup is done. Serve with White Rice or use the Delta-style Banga Soup
to eat Starch, Garri, Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
