How to make Afang soup /Nigerian southern dish.

This native traditional soup “Afang soup” is a delicious dish that is found in the southern region of Nigeria. It contains meat and seafood, but the star of this dish is dried okazi or afang leaves.

Afang soup is one of the richest and somewhat medicinal vegetable soups of the Efiks/Ibibios in Nigeria. In nigeria the soup share the same similarity with the Igbo soup known as Okazi soup. The major difference is that a soup thickener is added to Okazi Soup to increase its viscosity(thickness), but afang soup gets its thickness from the bulk of vegetables used in preparing it.

Afang soup is a brightly flavoured soup made with an assortment of leafy vegetables. It’s the perfect soup that accommodates a variety of meats as it does with vegetables! A super-versatile soup popular amongst the Efik and Ibibio people of Nigeria .

This leafy and flavourful dish is made from Afang leaves (otherwise known as wild spinach, Okazi, Koko, fumbua, or eru) and Waterleaf. Of course, there are different versions across Africa. The waterleaf can be substituted for spinach since waterleaf is not readily available everywhere.

How to prepare Afang soup

ingreidents

– 1 kilo of beef or assorted meat
– 2 Smoked fish
– Stockfish (optional)
– 1 handful Shelled Periwinkle
– 2 tablespoonful ground crayfish
– 500g Afang Leaves(same as okazi/ukazi leaves)
– 1kg Water leaves 
– 2.11 cups of Palm oil
– 2 Seaoning cubes
– Fresh pepper or ground dried pepper(to taste)
– Salt to taste

cooking instruction

• Wash and slice the water leaves and set aside. if they are dried leaves, grind it as fine as you can.
• Thouoruly wash and cook the assorted meat and stock fish with chopped onions, one stock cube/seasoning cube and salt to taste. Cook until tender.
• Clean the dried fish in hot water,remove the bones and add the fish to the pot of cooked meat.
• Add the Palm oil, pepper, ground crayfish and remaining stock cube to the pot. Mix well and then add periwinkles. Cover the pot and leave to boil for about 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add the Afang leaves, leave to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes and then add the water leaves.
• Add salt to taste
• simmer for 2 minutes and your Afang Soup is ready

This leafy,flavourful soup can be served alongside Nigerian swallow such as eba, pounded yam and semovita