Afang Soup
Overview
Afang soup is a thick vegetable soup of the Efik and Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River in southern Nigeria. To make afang soup, you slice afang leaves as finely as you can and cook assorted meat and stockfish until tender. Palm oil, pepper, crayfish and periwinkle go in, then the afang, then waterleaf to finish. Afang is called okazi by the Igbo and Gnetum africanum by botanists. It's a tough, wiry forest leaf with a faint bitter edge, and it barely softens in the pot, so it has to be shredded almost to threads. Waterleaf does the opposite job. It's soft, quick to wilt and full of water, which gives the soup its body without much added liquid. The leaf is also how you tell afang from edikang ikong, the other great vegetable soup of the region. Edikang ikong uses waterleaf and ugu, the pumpkin leaf, and tastes sweeter and greener, while afang keeps a gentle bitterness. If you've eaten both, that bitterness tells you which one is in front of you. Around the leaves goes whatever the budget allows: beef, shaki, dried and fresh fish, periwinkle, crayfish, pepper and palm oil. How much goes in depends on the household, and it's eaten with any of the swallows.
AFN Heritage Note
Afang soup is documented as a dish of the Efik and Ibibio peoples of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. The defining leaf, Gnetum africanum, is known as afang in Efik and okazi in Igbo, and its harvest from forest margins ties the dish to a specific ecology.
Ingredients
Dietary tags come from contributors and AFN does not verify them. They also depend on the products you buy. Recipes here are published for learning, not as medical or dietary advice. If you have an allergy or a medical condition, check every ingredient yourself and talk to a doctor or dietitian. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Slice the water leaves and set aside, slice Afang leaves, pound or blend it and set aside too, if you are using dry leaves it might be tougher than the fresh leaves, so try to grind it as fine as you can.
- 2
Cook the assorted meat and stock fish with onions, seasoning cubes and salt, cook until tender.
- 3
Remove the bones in the dry fish and add to the pot of cooked meat.
- 4
Add palm oil, pepper, ground crayfish and seasoning cubes to the pot.
- 5
Add the periwinkles that if you are using it, cover the pot and leave to boil for about 10 minutes.
- 6
Add the Afang leaves, leave to simmer for 5 minutes and then add water leaves.
- 7
Add salt and leave for 2 minutes.
- 8
Serve with any Nigeria swallow.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Jennifer Ezeokoli- Slice the afang as finely as you possibly can. This is the single step that decides whether the soup is pleasant to eat, the leaf is fibrous and does not soften much in cooking.
- Add the waterleaf before the afang. Waterleaf releases moisture as it collapses, and the afang softens in that liquid rather than in added water.
- Go easy on added water. Between the waterleaf and the palm oil there is usually enough, and afang should be thick rather than soupy.
- Pound or blend the afang briefly if slicing by hand is not getting it fine enough, a few pulses is enough, more turns it to paste.
- The periwinkle is traditional and worth including if you can get it, but the soup works without it.
Questions cooks ask
How do you cook afang soup in Akwa Ibom?
In Akwa Ibom, afang soup is cooked thick. You slice the afang as finely as you can, then cook assorted meat and stockfish with onion and seasoning until tender. Palm oil, pepper and crayfish go in, with periwinkle if you have it, and the covered pot boils for about 10 minutes. The afang goes in for 5 minutes, then the waterleaf, then salt for 2 more minutes. Eat it with pounded yam or eba. It's an Efik and Ibibio soup, and the leaf is grown for home and market among the Ibibio, Efik and Annang people.
What are the ingredients for afang soup?
Afang (okazi) leaves, waterleaf, palm oil, beef or assorted meat such as cow skin and tripe, smoked fish, ground crayfish, fresh pepper, onion, seasoning cubes and salt. Stockfish and shelled periwinkle are optional.
What are afang leaves?
Afang is the leaf of Gnetum africanum, a wild forest vine sometimes called wild spinach in English. It's afang in Efik and Ibibio, okazi in Igbo, and eru or okok in Cameroon, where it goes into eru soup. The leaves are tough, so they're always sliced very finely for soup.
Why is my afang soup tough?
Almost always because the leaf wasn't sliced finely enough. Afang is a forest leaf and it stays fibrous, so it doesn't break down much in the pot. Cooking it longer won't fix that, and it'll dull the colour of the rest of the soup. Next time, shred it as fine as you can before it goes in.
Can I use dried afang leaves?
Yes, but dried leaves are tougher than fresh, so grind them as fine as you can before they go in. Outside Nigeria, frozen afang that's already shredded is usually the easiest option and saves you most of the slicing.
Do you need periwinkle for afang soup?
No. Periwinkle is traditional and worth adding if you can get it, but the soup still works without it. If you do use it, add it with the palm oil and crayfish, cover the pot and let it boil for about 10 minutes before the leaves go in.
Reviews
4 reviews
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I bought dried okazi leaves from an African grocer near me, but my food processor couldn't get them ground finely enough. The soup ended up pretty chewy and fibrous even after boiling for 10 minutes with the water leaves. Should I soak the dried leaves in warm water first?
chale finding fresh afang in accra is not easy paa so I had to use the dry okazi leaves from Makola market. pounded it fine fine as you directed so it won't be tough in the mouth. it turned out very nice oo though my Nigerian housemate said my palm oil was too small haha
Used roughly 150ml of red palm oil and simmered the tripe and beef stock for about 45 mins until soft before adding the crayfish. The smoked fish gives it a lekker depth of flavor. Had to leave out the periwinkles as I couldn't source them in Durban.
Afang soup without plenty stockfish and shelled periwinkle is incomplete abeg! Made a big pot on Sunday with shaki and cow skin. The ratio of waterleaf to afang was spot on, e sweet no be small thing o.