I first had a sampling of this alluring dish at an African restaurant, in Los Angeles , and all sorts of good memories flooded my brain. I instantly took a fondness for this soup . It reminded me of eru (a soup that is cooked in Cameroon using the same ingredients). This one is slippery , and oh so tasty! Afang Soup is of Nigerian origin–a much-celebrated recipe from the efik ethnic group in the southern part of Nigeria –and often served at ceremonial occasions such as weddings, child birth and to honored guests. It has spread its wings throughout Nigeria and has been embraced in neighboring countries.
It is a slippery vegetable soup loaded with chunks of multifarious meats – smoked and fresh meat, any that you can lay your hands on. The star vegetable in this soup is shredded afang leaves which is known by various names- “eru“or “kok” in Cameroon, “Ukazi” or “Okazi” in Nigeria and different parts of Africa. Traditionally the leaves are sliced thin, then pounded with mortar and pestle and mixed with waterleaves to achieve the slimy consistency. Most people living abroad do not own this tool, but the same effect can be achieved by blending the afang leaves in a food processor into a bristly consistency. Be extra careful during the blending process (the leaves should not be pureed), because it would ruin the soup’s consistency. Okazi leaves are not available in major supermarkets. So, if you are living abroad you can locate these leaves in most African stores and even online. Swap the water leaves for spinach it would not hurt. The other ingredients crayfish, palm oil, meat can be found in most Asian or Hispanic stores depending on your city. Afang soup is generally eaten with pounded yam or any sort of fufu or eba and is best served warm. [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”vsgTfUZq” upload-date=”2020-03-28T14:59:03.000Z” name=”Afang Soup” description=”https://www.africanbites.com/afang-soupspinach-and-okazi-leaves/” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
