Banga Soup, made from palm nuts, is a favorite of the Delta and Urhobo people of Nigeria. From tribe to tribe, the way that Banga soup is made differs. The Ugu or scent leaves, which are absent in the Delta variety, are included in the Igbo variation, which is known as Ofe Akwu. Abak Atama, the Efik version, is another option.
It is very easy to make and packed full of flavour from the herbs and spices used in making it. Banga soup recipe is now very easy to cook thanks to ready-made canned palm nut fruit. It’s much easier to use and cuts the cooking time down tremendously.
You can either use that or fresh palm nuts. If you want to use fresh palm nuts, all you have to do is wash them thoroughly to get rid of any dirt, then boil them for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat, or until they soften. Put the nuts in a mortar and pound them until the skin starts to fall off and the color is somewhat even. Be careful not to damage the kernels while doing this. Add some hot water to the nuts while they are still in the mortar and thoroughly mix. After that, just filter the mixture to remove the palm oil using a sieve or cloth.
Banga soup is very easy to prepare as long as you follow the instructions below:
INGREDIENTS
Palm Nut Extract
Catfish or any preferred fresh fish
Assorted Meats of your choice
Stockfish (Okporoko)
Dried Fish
Fresh or Smoked Shrimps (Optional)
Ground Dried Crayfish
Banga Spice
Dried bitter leaves.
1 Oburunbebe stick
Scotch bonnet (Atarodo)
Chopped onion
Dried pepper (Atagungun) This is optional if you’re using Scotch bonnet.
Seasoning cubes
Salt to taste
COOKING DIRECTIONS
Gut, clean, and completely wash your fish, especially if it’s catfish, which may be extremely slimy. Catfish should be washed with salt to get the slime off.
Season assorted meats, dried fish, stock fish with salt, onions, seasoning cubes, add water and bring to boil till tender. (Separate meat from stock and reserve stock)
Place a large pot on medium heat, add palm nut fruit extract and dilute with warm water double of the amount of palm nut fruit extract used. You can also use the stock from the meat to dilute it.
Stir till well combined and bring to boil for about 20 minutes. Don’t cover the pan with a lid at this point as it would boil over.
Then add the Banga Spice, Oburunbebe stick, ground crayfish, assorted beef, dried fish, stock fish, blended scotch bonnet, dried pepper, seasoning cubes and salt to taste. You may not need too much salt if your stock is well seasoned so be careful.
Be really careful when adding Banga spice, start with a tablespoon thereabouts and add more intermittently if needed, too much will make your Banga soup really bitter
Leave to cook for another 10 minutes. The Banga spice adds a very rich aroma to the soup and you can just smell it.
Check for salt and seasoning, dilute the soup with reserved stock if it is too thick. Remember to stir in between to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot
Add the catfish or fresh fish and fresh shrimps, turn the heat down and leave to cook for 10 minutes. By now, the oil would have settled on top.
You can remove some oil if you find it too oily. The oil can be used in making other soups.
Add dried bitter leaves, stir, and leave to cook for 2 minutes.
Turn off heat completely and remove Oburunbebe stick.
Your Banga soup is ready.
Banga soup can be eaten with Starch, Eba, Fufu, Pounded yam or white rice.
