Banga Stew

Banga soup (stew) has over the years topped the list of Nigerian stew recipes due to its uniqueness and blend of natural ingredients.

I learned that it is more advisable to make stew with palm oil than groundnut/vegetable oil.
This is entirely different from the Deltan version that is served with starch or eba. If that is what you are looking to make, here is the recipe – Delta Banga Soup
The Banga soup (ofe akwu) is very easy to make and very popular in the eastern part of Nigeria, almost every ingredient used in Making this stew could be gotten from the farm, that is why it is a little bit easier for folks in the rural areas while it remains difficult for people outside the country to find all the ingredients that are required.
This is another kind of Nigerian stew popularly eaten by the Igbos and some other parts of Nigeria; I would prefer this stew above Nigerian tomato stew any day. This is a delicious plate rice, served with banga stew (soup) plus a sprinkle of peas. (the peas was boiled for 3 minutes on low heat)

 

Here is a list of ingredients used in making Nigerian Banga soup (stew) ‘ofe akwu’, (as the Igbos like to call it). Most of these ingredients can be purchased from any Nigerian market or African shops in case you live outside Nigeria.
Ingredients: | Serving : 6×2 Persons
Banga (palm fruit) (9-10 cups)
2KG of Meat (I used goat meat while making the video below, you can use chicken, turkey or a combination of two)
1 sachet of ‘Onga soup’ spice
A cup of Sliced onions
2 cups of sliced fluted pumpkin(optional)
2 cubes of maggi
A cup of sliced Scent leave
Dried fish (500g)
Half cup of ground Crayfish
Fresh or dried pepper to taste
Salt to taste

“Onga soup” is a special kind of spice that I use in making Nigerian banga soup and few other Nigerian foods, You will find this in the video below. Onga is made by promasidora (Nigeria) LTD, I think the company is located in Switzerland.
Like I always say; there are lots of spices and flavors used in making Nigerian foods, most of which are also franchised in almost every country of the worlds. Take knorr cube for instance, this ingredient is available in almost every country of the world in different forms and shapes, knorr or maggi is used in almost every known Nigeria food recipe.
The good thing is that you can use almost any spice for Nigerian foods although there are just a few that are irreplaceable.
Below is the image of pounded palm fruit with a portion of the squeezed-out thick juice in a plate and then by the right is sliced onions, scent leaves in a plate

Soak the dried fish in hot water and wash thoroughly to remove sand and dirt,
blend the crayfish or blend together with dry pepper if you are making banga stew with dried pepper, although I prefer to use red fresh peppers.
Chop the onion and set aside in a plate, I like to make most foods with lots of onions just because of its health benefits.

How To Make Banga Soup (Ofe Akwu).

Cook the palm fruits (banga fruits) for 30 to 50 minutes then pound with a mortar and pestle, you will see how this is done in the video below. Pour water in a bowl, add the pounded palm fruit and try to squeeze out the thick syrup. The palm fruit juice is a major part of banga soup this can also be used in making Nigerian soups (then you wouldn’t need palm oil).
Pour the squeezed-out thick juice into a bowl and set aside.
Wash the meat with hot water and parboil with a separate pot till it is tender (be sure to add the ingredients – use the 2 cubes of maggi, a teaspoon of salt, half cup of onions.), It is possible to make a delicious meal with tasteless meat, that is the only reason I advise you to use lots of ingredients while parboiling the meat. Then very little or none while making the main foods, just use the meat stock (water from the meat) and you will be fine.
Add the squeezed-out palm fruit juice to the boiling meat on fire.
Add the (dried fish and crayfish) to the cooking pot and cook for about 10 minutes
Add your spices if it is not yet as tasteful as required. (Sachet of “onga soup” and/or a cube of maggi, knorr or royco). Stir and add the scent leave (chopped), sliced onions, salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for another minute then add the chopped vegetables (optional), allow to simmer for another 3 minutes and you just made a delicious Nigerian banga stew (ofe akwu)
Serve with rice, yam or cooked beans
That is how to make banga soup (stew) in Nigeria, the Igbos call it “ofe akwu”.

How to Make Banga

Delta banga soup is best served with starch or eba.
This is unlike the other banga stew that is native to the Igbos and popularly served with white boiled rice or yam.

This Banga soup is indigenous to the Deltans but also loved and enjoyed by both People from Edo state and all of the Niger Delta. If you are looking to make the Igbo version please click – Igbo Banga Stew.
This is not banga stew but they are both made with similar ingredients. Banga stew is native to the Igbos and usually served with boiled white rice. While banga soup (as in this case) goes with starch, eba or fufu.

The two are prepared the exact same way; the difference is just the spices. This recipe will, in the next few minutes shows you exactly how to make banga soup like an itsekiri woman.
You can use any combination of meat for this soup or just use plain red meat; I used a combination of cow head, foot and red meat.
Ingredients | Serving: 12 Persons.

• Meat (1kg)
• Crayfish (half cup)
• Fresh prawn [oporo](one cup)
• Fresh Palm Fruits (Banga) (8 cups)
• Medium sized dry fish / smoked fish (1)
• Red scotch bonnet pepper “Ata rodo” (8)
• Ataiko (1 tbsp)
• Irugege (1 teaspoon)
• Oburunbebe Stick (Banga stick) (1)
• Dried Beletientien leaves (half cup) or
• Thinly sliced bitter leaves (half cup)
• 3 cubes of knorr
• Periwinkles (1)
• Salt to taste.

 These are banga seeds (Mpuru akwu) they are the major ingredients for making this soup. Akwu is very abundant in Nigerian.

 These are pictures of some of the ingredients for this Itsekiri soup. All of these spices and ingredients can be purchased from any Nigerian local market. For the spices and banga stick, ask those women that sell traditional roots and herbs like zobo leaves and dogoyaro.

You should use crushed dried beletientien leaves, also called atama leaf in Efik or thinly sliced bitter leaves.
Start by grinding the spices. Add them all together (ataiko, Irugege and a cup of crayfish), blend to powder. Blend the pepper also. Wash the dried or smoked fish and remove center bones.
wsh and precook the prawn, use half cup of water, a cube of maggi and a pinch of salt.
I used already precooked meats. If your meat is not precooked yet, do that now. Wash properly and use two cubes of knorr and a pinch of salt. Cook the meat until it becomes soft, easy to chew and the water is almost dried. Add salt to taste and allow another three minutes. Set aside.

 Boil the palm fruit for 20 minutes, pound with a mortar and pestle, transfer into a bowl, add water and extract the juice. You will need about 7-10 cups of that palm fruit juice for this cooking. It should be thick.

Use a sieve to strain the extract into your cooking pot, allow to boil for 15 minutes with the pot half-covered. It should be a lot thicker now.
Add the cleaned dried fish, ground (crayfish, ataiko plus irugege), oburunbebe stick, precooked meat, ground pepper and salt to taste. Cover and allow another 10 minutes.

 Add the crushed dried beletientien leaves or thinly sliced bitter leaves, precooked prawn, periwinkles and one cube of knorr. Stir, cover and allow to simmer for 3 minutes. This is how to make the popular banga soup that is loved and made by the Deltans

Serve with starch, eba or fufu.
This is Delta state native soup.

How to cook Banga Soup (Ofe Akwu)

Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta areas, Banga soup is commonly eaten with various fufu recipes: Starch, Pounded Yam, Semolina, Garri and Cassava Fufu. In the South Eastern parts of Nigeria, Banga Soup is referred to as Ofe Akwu where Ofe means Soup / Stew and Akwu means palm fruit and is used mainly as stew for Boiled White Rice.

The palm fruit oil extract used in cooking Banga Soup / Stew is quite different from the red palm oil used in cooking Nigerian food recipes. Palm Oil is pure oil extracted from the palm fruit pulp at high temperatures while the palm fruit oil extract used for the Banga Soup is extracted at a very low temperature and is a mixture of oil and water. Palm fruit oil extracted for Banga Soup contains less saturated fat than palm oils.

Ingredients for Banga Soup

• 1 kg Palm Fruits or 800g tinned Palm Fruit Concentrate
• Beef
• Dry Fish
• Vegetable: Scent Leaves for Ofe Akwu or dried and crushed bitterleaves for Delta-style Banga Soup
• 2 medium onions
• 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
• Salt and Chilli Pepper (to taste)
• Ogiri Okpei (Iru)
• 1-2 big stock cubes

Before you cook the Nigerian Banga Soup

1. Extract the palm fruit concentrate from the palm fruits. If using the tinned palm fruit concentrate, open the tin and set aside.
2. Cook the beef and the dry fish with 1 bulb of diced onion and the stock cubes till done.
3. Wash and cut the scent leaves into tiny pieces. The scent leaves give the Banga Stew (Ofe Akwu) its unique aroma and taste. If you are outside Nigeria, this may be hard to find, so you can use pumpkin leaves or any other vegetable in place of scent leaves. If cooking Delta-style Banga Soup for starch, you should either cook this soup without vegetables or use dried and crushed bitter leaves.
4. Cut the remaining bulb of onion. Pound the crayfish, ogiri okpei and pepper in a mortar and set aside. You can also grind them with a dry mill.     

1. Cooking Directions

2. Set the pot of palm fruit extract on the stove and start cooking at high heat. Leave to boil till you notice come red oil at the surface of the Banga Stew. If you think that the Banga Soup is watery, cook till the soup has thickened to the consistency you like for your stews.
3. Now, add the beef, dry fish and stock, the onions, crayfish and pepper and leave to boil very well.
4. Add the scent leaves or other vegetable and salt to taste. Leave to simmer for about 2 mins. The Banga Soup is done. Serve with White Rice or use the Delta-style Banga Soup to eat Starch, Garri, Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.   

Cooking Directions for those using tinned palm fruit concentrate

1. When the beef and fish are well done, add the palm fruit concentrate and add water to get the consistency you like for your stews. Leave to boil very well.
2. Add the onions, crayfish, pepper and ogiri blend and let it boil very well.
3. Add the scent leaves or other vegetable and salt to taste. Leave to simmer for about 2 mins. The Banga Soup is done.

If you used bitter leaves to prepare it, serve with Nigerian fufu meals especially Starch. If you used scent leaves to prepare it, serve with boiled white rice.