There are different ways/recipe in preparing afang soup here in the southern part of Nigeria. Afang (Gnnetum africanum) can be mixed with water leaf (Talinum triangulare) for a special meal called afang soup. The soup is mostly prepared in the southern part of Nigeria although, some part of Cameroon (Bakkasi) also eat the delicacy.
Gnnetum africanum (Afang)
Before I mention the steps on how to prepare this delicacy, here are all the ingredients I used in preparing it:
- Afang leaf (Gnnetum africanum)
- Water leaf (Talinum triangulare)
- Fish
- Meat
- Crayfish
- Stock fish
- Periwinkle
- Fresh Paper
- Maggi
- Salt
- Palm oil
- Cow skin
Note: You can use more ingredients and proteins like prawns and others if you so wish.
After I returned from the market, the first thing was to prepare all my proteins like fish, cowskin, meat and periwinkle.
After washing and preparing my proteins, I put them in the pot and added salt, maggi and fresh pepper to it, then I set fire and place the pot. This is called steaming.
Once steaming is achieved, I stopped the fire and quickly picked my water leaf to remove all the flowers. This is one of the hardest part cause it takes time to pick them one by one. One really needs to endure at this point especially if you're cooking a large quantity of food.
After I was done picking the water leaf, I washed them with water for three times so all the sand could be removed. Then I sliced them using my knife to my desired shape. After the slicing, I washed the sliced water leaf again, this time around to remove all the sticky draw from it. I did this for two times and I achieved what I wanted.
After I was done with the water leaf, the next thing I did was to pick my afang after which I washed them for three times to remove all the sand and other particles that could have been found on it. This is where you test your patience because after washing them, you'll get them dried of the water before you slice them.
While waiting for my afang to dry, I began to pound my crayfish and fresh pepper using mortar and pestle. I also selected 6 cubes of hunger cubes, that was solely dependent on the quantity of soup I'll be preparing.
When my afang got dried, I sliced them. This really gave me a tough time compared to when I sliced my water leaf. I nearly cut my index left finger while slicing my afang but I'm grateful I didn't. After the successful slice, I blended them using my mortar and pestle again since I do not have a blender yet.
After I blended my afang, I set fire again, I added my water leaf to the already steamed proteins and allow it for two minutes then I added my crayfish, maggi, salt and pepper along with small quantity of water. It steamed for three minutes (that was depending on the intensity of my fire) then I added my palm oil allowed it to steam for some time and then I added my afang as the last ingredients.
In no time, my yummy afang soup was finally ready. It can be eaten with garri (Manihot crants) fufu, semovita, etc.
That's my recipe for preparing afang soup, a special delicacy in the southern part of Nigeria. Thanks for engaging.
