ABAK AFANG SOUP

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENT
1Kg / 2Ihassorted meats (beef oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto & bushmeat,,
450g lib stockfish (pre-soaked),
1 medium dry fish (washed & flaked),
450g / lib afang leaves (pounded),
225g/8oz periwinkle (top & tailed),
225g / 8oz ground chillies,
225g / 8oz ground crayfish,
lit / 2pints palm-nut concentrate,
salt to taste,

DIRECTION
Wash the meat thoroughly and place in a large pot. Season with salt and ground chillies. Add some stock and cook for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wash the oil-palm and cook until soft to make the concentrate. Add the washed smoked fish and stockfish to the pot of boiling meat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the palmoil concentrate, bring to the boil and cook till slightly reduced and soup coats of a,spoon. Add the pounded afang leaves and periwinkles. Stir in the crayfish and cook for 15minutes until well blended. Check seasoning and serve with pounded yam.,

TO MAKE OIL - PALM CONCENTRATE,
l kg/2Ib oil-palm kernels,
3pints hot water,

Wash the palm kernels and place to cook in a clean pot with some water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and place kernels in a mortar, pound to pulp. Mix pulp with hot Water and squeeze to remove oil. Pass through a sieve to separate the kernels and shaft. Canned palm-nut concentrate which is readily available in shops and supermarkets could be used instead.

EGUSI SOUP

EGUSI SOUP serves 4-6

This humble melon seed soup is quite popular all over Nigeria. Although cooking techniques and the kind of vegetables used might differ from region to region it is still absolutely delicious when properly cooked.

INGREDIENTS -
250g 8oz fresh beef chucks
500g / llb bushmeat
500g / lib stockfish (pre-soaked)
500g / lib smoked dry fish
250g / 8oz oxtail
250g / 8oz cleaned tripe2pt stock or water
300g /100z ground egusi
500g lib fresh tomatoes
250g / 8oz fresh peppers
2 large onion
teaspoons iru
4 tablespoon ground crayfish
500g.llb fresh bitter leaf (washed to remove excessive bitterness)
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS -
Wash thoroughly the beef oxtail bushmeat and tripe. Place a large pot with sliced onions season with salt add a drop of water or stock and cook for 30 minutes or until tender.

Add the washed dry fish and stockfish and cook for another 10 minutes. When cooked mm into a large clean bowl. Wipe out the pot and place back on heat. Pour the oil into the pot when hot add the ground tomatoes onions and peppers and fry for 10 minutes. Add the ground egusi and iru stirring thoroughly and cook for 5 minutes.

Finally add cooked meats washed bitter leaf Crayfish and the stock. Allow to boil then simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot with any of the stiff puddings.

VARIATIONS
Others green leaf vegetables such as fresh waterleaf Soko Tete. Igbo ugwu and Uzouza leaves can also be used on their own or as a combination m the above recipe using the same methods.

Serving: Can be eaten with Eba/Garri, Amala, Semovita, and Pounded Yam।

Courtesy of Laura Edet

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HOLLA TO ALL DA HOUSE!

Is good to be back.

How was the celebrations hope you have a nice time in the Kitchen, during those period doing some cooking! Cooking !! and Cooking!!!

This is a new year and we will be learning on how to cook a lot of african dishes and international cuisines.

And this is open to all the house - you too can teach us how to prepare some dishes

if you to to add your columm to this blog - Naija Kitchen write to - daughtersoffaith@rocketmail.com and you will be given access to write on this blog.

Thanks you all for your all comments and opinions, together will be have a fruitful and joyous year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bukkie

EDIKANG IKONG SOUP

serves 4

Well famous Nigerian soup, particularly indigenous to the Efiks and thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated amongst connoisseurs and lovers of good food all over the country. There are many myths attached to this superb soup but as you can see from the recipe given, it is only a simple vegetable soup.

• 
  I kg / 21b assorted meats (beef, oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto & bushmeat)
• 4 snails (washed with lemon and limes)
• 450g / llb stockfish (pre-soaked)
• 450g / llb dry fish ( thoroughly washed)
• 450g/ llb periwinkles (top & tail)
• 22 5 § / 8oz whole dry prawns (cleaned)
• 225g / 8oz ground crayfish
• I medium onion
• 1.35kg/3 lb fresh ugwu/pumpkin leaves (washed & shredded)
• I kg /21b fresh waterleaf (prepared and washed)
• 200ml palmoil
• 600ml / lpt stock
• salt to taste

Wash the meat thoroughly and place in a large pot. Add some sliced onions, ground chillies and some stock. Place on heat and cook for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the snail from shells and wash, rubbing with lime or lemon juice to remove slime. Wash the smoked dry fish with salt and soak in slightly salted eater for 5 minutes to kill any insect and loosen any sand or girt.

Rinse thoroughly with lots of cold water. Top and tail the periwinkles and wash thoroughly. Add the snails, stockfish, dry fish,dry prawns and periwinkles to the pot of meat and cook for a further 10 minutes, adding more stock if required. Finally add the shredded ugwu / pumpkin leaves and waterleaf, mix in properly. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes and add the crayfish and palmoil.

Give it a good stir and gently simmer for another 10 minutes until well blended and the aroma fills the kitchen. Remove from heat and serve hot with Fufu or pounded yam.

Rice Dishes

Rice is widely eaten in Nigeria and there are many different types to chose from. It is prepared, cooked and served in an attractive variety. However, boiled white rice is plain when eaten on its own, so it is always served as accompaniments to soups and stews or as an all in one dish with fish, meat and vegetables mixed.
There are some dishes that are common - jollof rice, fried rice, rice and stew, etc, while there are some that are unique - coconut rice, green rice, etc. There is also our very own native rice - ofada rice, which is the first choice at parties these days.Let's begin the rice journey!

Today we will learn how to cook JOLLOF RICE:

JOLLOF RICE - v1.0

Since there are many different versions of Jollof Rice, I named it version 1.0!

Ingredients:
Rice - four or five cups (for a serving of 3 adults)
Vegetable Oil - about 4l, which is two tablespoonfuls
Salt
Sliced Onions.
Sliced Tomatoes.
Shredded pepper.
Tomato puree, three tablespoon scoops.
A tablespoon scoop of butter/margarine.
Two Knou cubes (you can use any seasoning of your choice).

Procedure:
Step 1: Pour the oil into the selected pot. Add the butter. When the combination is hot, sprinkle a little salt and add some sliced onions.

Step 2:
Add the shredded pepper and stir for a few seconds. Add the tomato puree. Stir.

Step 3:
Add the seasoning and stir until fried. Add the jug of hot water and stir to ensure that the combination evens out smoothly. Wait a few minutes for the combination to heat up, stirring constantly.

Step 4:
Wash the starch out of the rice (simple effective procedure to eliminate the perboiling step. Add salt to the dry unwashed rice, and add three tablespoonfuls of water.Rub the salt into the rice for three minutes. Rinse away the starch.

Step 5:
Add the rice to the combination. Cover the pot and wait for the rice to get soft. Always check constantly - remember you used hot water to speed up the cooking time. If the rice isn't soft and all the water is gone (which is preferable to having too much water, as you cannot sieve it out), add little quantity of water.

Step 6:
When the rice is almost done, add the sliced tomatoes, and remaining slice onions to steam and cover the pot.

Step 7:
After three minutes (or less, depending on how crunchy and fresh you want the tomatoes and onions to be), stir the rice to ensure that no part is lacking in the condiment.

Serve with Chicken or Fish...Enjoy!

FISH

Types of Fish used in Naija Kitchen

• FISH & SHELLFISH

Excellent source of protein calcium phosphorous and vitamins A&D fish and hot smoked dried fish is eaten widely in Nigeria. Fresh fish was preserved by hot smoking till dry on wood fires by fisherman who went to sea in their canoes. The demand keeps the local fish industries thriv ing and smoke dried fish has become synonymous with Nigerian cuisine. All types of white or oily fresh fish cray- fish and prawns are preserved by this method.

• Types of fish

1. 
   White fish :- Sole Cod Tilapia Bream Catfish.
2. Oily fish :- Whitebait Herring Mackerel Sardine.
3. Shellfish: -Prawns Crayfish Crab Lobster Periwinkles.
4. Stockfish (air-dried fish usually Cod imported from Nor-way) used preferably soaked overnight in cold salted waterbefore cooking.

• STOCKS

Good fresh stock made from bones and flesh of meat fish and poultry with added vegetables herbs and spices is the base on which most recipes in this book is built. The bones releas gelatine whilst cooking which gives body to the stock and the vegetables gives additional flavour thus enhancing greatly the overall taste of a dish whenever used. But if time is of the essence stock or bouillion cubes are accept able replacement following the makers instructions for use. The disadvantage I find with this is the lack of jellying qualities and some are too highly seasoned and after a while every dish starts tasting the same. Vacuum parked fresh stock portions is now readily available in supermarkets.

TYPE OF MEAT USED IN NAIJA KITCHEN

• Beef

Beef is widely eaten in Nigeria. Freshly killed and sold daily in the markets. Could be a little bit expensive but be prepared to haggle down the price with the butcher All parts of the freshly killed cow (beef and bones) is sold with nothing wasted.

• Chicken Guinea fowl & Turkey

These are still purchased live and taken home to be killed and cleaned. Until recently these were used mostly on special occasions but with modem technology fast taking over with new breeding and preserving techniques these are now widely available frozen at reasonable cost and equal to beef in popularity.

• Cow foot

Usually sold smoked cleaned and party boiled.

• Cow-skin

Generally known a Pomo the cow skin is singed burnt and scrapped to remove all the hairs and subsequently reconstituted in water and sold.

• Dried beef (Kundi)

This is fresh beef that has been air-dried in the sun an hot' smoked. Soak overnight in cold water before use.

• Eggs

Eggs are still an expensive commodity in Nigeria they featured less in many of the dishes but are thoroughly enjoyed eaten boiled.

• Eran Igbe Venison

Any kind of game meat including antelope deer (venison) and grass cutter. The most valued is grasscutter. These meats are considered as delicacies and are highly priced.

• Goat meat

Also known as mutton is commonly used for any kind of celebration or feast. The goat or rams are sold live and priced according to weight and size. The head is used for a special Igbo dish (Isi-ewu)

• Liver & kidney

Usually ox liver or kidney-should be soaked in salted water for a few hours before cooking to mellow out the strong flavour.

• Ox Heart

Remove surrounding fat and treat as fresh beef.

• Oxtail

This is still the most expensive part of beef in Nigeria. Sold cleaned with the outer skin on it takes longer to cook but by using a pressure cooker cooking time is considerably reduced.

• Ox Tongue

Remove skin by dipping whole fresh tongue in boiling hot water for a few minutes and scrapping with a sharp knife.

• Pork

Pork is not as commonly used as beef. Usually sold salted.

• SALTED MEATS

Salt beef and pork are used in the Naija Kitchen largely because in the old days there was no refrigeration and in the hot climate meat spoiled easily. Salting was one of the methods used in preserving fresh meats. Although with the invention of modern technology people still use salt meats because they have a acquired a taste for it.
To salt beef

2.5 fresh beef pork or mutton

500g/lib coarse salt

ltsp saltpetre

2 tablespoon sugar

Mix the salt saltpetre an sugar together in a large glass or china bowl. Rub the mixture well into the meat. Sprin kled a little more dry salt over the meat. Cover and leave in a cooled place. Pour out any liquid that collects daily sprinkle with more salt and mm over until dry for a few days. Remove from bowl sprinkle with more salt and wrap in clean muslin and store until required. To use: Wash meat thoroughly and soak in cold water for 4 hours or preferably overnight before cooking.

Tripe

Both blanket and honey comb can be bought ready cleaned and partly cooked