How To Make White Soup(Nsala)

Nsala is a special soup that is common to members of the riverine parts of Nigeria. It is a rich delicacy that is spicy in nature and very easy to prepare, just follow these steps: Ingredients: Fresh or dry Utazi Leaves (Gongronema latifolium) Raw White Yam / Yam Powder / Potato Puree for use as thickener Habanero peppers or dry chili pepper to taste Salt (to taste) Cat Fish or Congar Eel: 4 one-inch thick pieces Crayfish (a handful for 4 cuts of fish) Seasoning 1 stock cube (Maggi / Knorr) and Ogiri Okpei / Iru Note: When using yam powder as thickener, mix the powder with hot water first to make a thick smooth paste (as if you are making pounded yam) before adding it to the soup. Adding the powder directly into the soup will make the soup mushy and you may end up with lumps. Procedure: Cut the catfish into 1 inch thick cylindrical discs and remove the intestines. Place in bowl and pour very hot water on the fish. This process of pouring hot water on the fish toughens the skin of the fish so that the pieces do not disintegrate while cooking the soup. Leave for about 2 minutes and wash the fish with cold water. You should also wash off any slimy substance on the outer skin of the fish at this time. Boil a few cubes of raw white yam. When soft, pound with a mortar and pestle till a smooth paste is formed, then set aside. You can substitute white yam with yam powder or potato puree for the thickening.

Wash and pound/blend the utazi leaves, the chilli pepper and the crayfish and set aside. Utazi has a bitter taste and is only used for flavouring so one or two leaves should be enough especially when using the fresh leaves. Place the catfish in a pot and pour enough water to cover the fish. Add the seasoning and cook till done. Feel free to add beef and dry fish to this soup recipe. When the catfish is almost done, add the crayfish, pepper and utazi leaves blend. Also add the yam paste in small lumps and salt to taste. Cover the pot and allow the contents to cook at high heat till all the yam paste have dissolved. While cooking, if you think that the yam paste will make the soup too thick, you can remove some that are yet to dissolve. After cooking, your Nsala soup is sure to go well with Eba (Garri), Semo, Amala, or pounded yam.

How To Prepare Amala

Amala is a West African dish that is prepared using yam flour or elubo in Yoruba language. The elubo is made from fermented yam that is dried through a special process. The dried yam is then ground into yam flour. Amala is a delicacy akin to people from Western Nigeria. Here is what you need to prepare it: Ingredients: - yam flour - water -pot with boiled water

Procedure Put some water in a pot and allow to boil. while the water is still boiling, add yam flour adding a little at a time, make sure you are stirring at the same time with a laddle so that it doesn\t come out with lumps. When it is well coagulated add some warm water, depending on how soft you want it to be, cover to simmer for some minutes. Stir until it is smooth and thick paste and it blends together in a uniform texture. Amala is best served hot with soup of your choice.

This is a classic Cross riverian dish and indeed one of my favourites. The unique flavours derived from the afang leaves in combination with the richness of other ingredients makes this superb soup appealing to a wider spectrum of palates. I kg / 21b assorted meats (oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto & bushmeat) 4 snails (washed with lemon or lime) 450g / llb stockfish (pre-soaked) 450 / llb dried fish (washed) 225g/8oz periwinkle (top & tail shell) 225g/8oz whole dry prawns (cleaned) 22 5g / 8oz ground crayfish 22 5g / 8oz ground pepper I medium onion 450g / llb afang leaves (washed, shredded & pounded) lkg/21b waterleaf (prepared & washed) 290ml /lOfl oz palm-oil 600ml/lpt stock or water salt to taste Wash the assorted meat thoroughly and place in a pot. Add the sliced onions, ground chillies and some stock or water. Cook for 30minutes. Meanwhile, remove the snails from their shells and wash with lemon or lime juice to remove slime. Wash the smoked dry fish with salt and leave soaking in boiling water for 5-8 minutes to kill any insect and loosen any sand or grit. Rinse out thoroughly with lots of cold water. With the blunt end of a knife, top and tail the periwinkles and wash thoroughly. Add the prepared ingredients and the stock fish to the pot of meat, continue cooking for additional 10 minutes, adding more stock as required. Finally, add the pounded afang leaves, washed waterleaf and crayfish. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil. Add palm oil, check seasoning and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the aroma fills the kitchen and the soup is well blended. Remove from heat, dish unto a plate and serve with pounded yam or fufu.

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every sense of the word.

he Nigerian Edikang Ikong soup or simply

Vegetable Soup is native to the Efiks, people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria. It is a general notion that the Edikang Ikong soup is very nutritious and this is very much so. Prepared with a generous quantity of pumpkin leaves and water leaves, this Nigerian soup recipe is nourishing in How to Cook Edikang Ikong Soup [Video] It is common for Nigerians to request this soup recipe after a bout of illness as we trust it to replenish whatever was lost during the sickness. But you don't not need to be in a state of convalescence to enjoy this wholesome Nigerian food recipe.

Ingredients for Edikang Ikong Soup

1kg Pumpkin leaves 500g Water leaves 600g Beef, Kanda, shaki and Dry fish Pepper, Salt and ground Crayfish: to taste 200ml Palm oil Periwinkle - 1 cup 2 medium bulbs onions 2-3 Stock cubes

Alternative vegetables for those who cannot buy water leaves and pumpkin leaves:
Use the following to replace the classic Nigerian vegetables for this soup: 1kg Normal Frozen Spinach 200g Ground Frozen Spinach 250g Lamb's Lettuce (Canonigos in Spanish) Defrost the frozen spinach, cut the normal frozen one into tiny pieces and mix with the ground frozen spinach. Wring out the water from these and add them when I add the pumpkin leaves. Wash pick and cut the Lamb's Lettuce into tiny pieces. Add them when I add the water leaves.

Before you cook the Edikaikong Soup

1. Wash and cut the pumpkin and water leaves into tiny pieces. Put them in separate sieves to drain out all the water as much as possible. 2. Cut the Kanda into small pieces. Cook the beef, kanda and the dry fish with the 2 bulbs of diced onions and the 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes with as little quantity of water as possible.

Cooking Directions
1. When the meat is done, add a generous amount of palm oil, the crayfish and pepper and leave to boil for about 10 minutes. The palm oil serves as water in the Edikaikong soup. You should try as much as possible to make it the only liquid in the soup. 2. Add the periwinkle and water leaves and leave to cook for another 5 minutes. You may have to cook for less time at this stage so that the water leaves are not over-cooked. 3. Now add the pumpkin leaves and salt to taste. Stir the contents of the pot very well and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. 4. The Edikang Ikong soup is ready to be served with Garri (Eba), Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.