Some call it African salad. The Igbo call it Ukazi soup or simply Ukazi, but in where I come from, this exciting soup is known as Afang soup.

As you would know, Afang soup is commonly enjoyed by Efik and Ibibio people of Nigeria. 

This delicious soup is not only made with Afang leaves, but with a leafy vegetable called waterleaf or Malabar spinach, and sometimes with melon.

Apart from being delicious, Afang soup is regarded as the most expensive soup in Akwa-Cross. 

The expensive nature of the food does not depend on the cost of the leaves, though the leaves are equally expensive than other vegetables in the local markets.

Afang soup is tagged the most expensive because of its natural demand for assorted ingredients.

As a low-income earner bachelor, you can use 2000 Naira and prepare vegetable soup that can be eaten for three four times. But if you try that with Afang, it will only serve two times because Not the money that should have gone for more leaves will go for the needed ingredients.

Anyways, it is one of my faves and I prepare whenever a fresh and heavy credit alert enters my SMS inbox. Hahahahaha, I don’t joke with Afang when there is money in my bank account.

In this first post about Afang soup, I will explain in details, everything you need to know about this delicacy.

How We Prepare Afang Soup

Now that you have followed me to this sub-heading, I will reward your readerships handsomely this morning. 

Trust me you will never go back the same after sticking to this article for the period of time it shall last. 

Here is how the magic is done but it won’t be fair if we begin with the cooking method without exposing you to the cooking ingredients.

Starting with cooking method is like embarking on a house construction task without providing the materials for the building work.

Here is where we are beginning this building process; the ingredients.

The Ingredients I Use in Cooking Afang Soup

“Better soup na money kill am”, translated in English as “the quality of a delicacy depends on the quality of ingredients and the money utilized in preparing it.

With reference to the above saying, the quality and quantity of Afang soup you may prepare depends on the quality of ingredients used.

Although expertise matters, Ingredients matter a lot. The major and necessary ingredients for Afang soup’s preparation are:

1. Afang

2. Water leaves 

3. Palm oil

4. Meat (preferably beef)

5. Dry fish 

6.  Stock fish

7.  Periwinkles 

8.  Kpomo

9.  Crayfish

10.   Dry pepper 

11.   Maggi or Onga cube

12.   Melon (optional or if you are not making use of water leaves.

How I Prepare Afang Soup

We are now at the last bus top, so, shall we get into business immediately? Yes, we don’t need to waste extra time.

I prepare my Afang soup in not more than 30 minutes, if I should have all my items bought and arranged by the foodstuffs’ vendors in the market.

Let’s say I only bought the items in the market without preparing them, here is how I begin the soup’s preparation.

I pluck my Afang leaves, arrange them and slice. After slicing, I grind the leaves and add crayfish to it so that the entire product of the grinding will be released.

Next step is the water leaves: I would wash, chop and rewash the chopped leaves to remove the slippery water. This process will help thicken the soup.

My periwinkles are the next thing, I would wash and keep them aside while proceeding to stem my already washed meat, fish, stock fish and kpomo.

Now everything is set; the journey is halfway completed as I put the fish, meat, stock fish, kpomo, some quantities of pepper, maggi, oil, salt and the squeezed water leaves in the pot and put on the fire.

After sometimes, my the periwinkles are added and stirrred until everything is done before I add the Afang leaves and additional palm oil, crayfish, maggi.

The Afang leaves would stay for just five minutes on the fire before the pot steaming pot is brought down. At this juncture, my soup is ready and can be eaten immediately or allowed to cold, depending on how I want it.

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