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Afia Efere Recipe – How to make Efik style “white soup”

Dobby

 

It’s late February and the heat is off the grid. I don’t know if that’s one of the reasons why my love for white soup intensified all of a sudden. This has got me playing with different ingredients and flavors to get a different take every time. Here’s why i love white soup; it’s really easy to make. Just picture yourself making pepper soup with a few more additional ingredients added to it…Sounds easy doesn’t it. There are different versions of white soup such as Afia Efere (the Efik version) and

Ofe Nsala (the igbo version)

. The thing is, they’re both the same but slightly different in taste due to the spices used in the preparation. This is one of the reasons why i love Nigerian dishes. Once you know what to add and subtract, switching up the recipe and coming up with something new becomes a home run. You could use chicken, beef or fish for this but for optimum flavor, i’d recommend using goat meat.

How to make Efik style white soup (Afia efere recipe)
• Prep Time:  15 minutes
• Cook time:  Less than 1 hour
• Category:    Nigerian soups


Ingredients:::
• 1 Kilo meat of choice (i used chicken)

•

Uyayak pod “tetrapleura tetraptera”

• 3 tbsps. dry pepper 
• 3 tbsps. crayfish 

• 1 cup shelled

mfi (Periwinkles)

• 1 large dry fish (soak to soften then rinse) 
• 4 medium pieces yam (for thickening) 
• 2 seasoning cubes 
• Salt to taste

 

Directions::: 
Step 1: Uyayak is the major seasoning for this soup. To prepare it in order to get maximum flavor, make sure to roast the Uyayak pod before use. You could roast over fire or in the oven for a few minutes. Also you may add the Uyayak as the meat starts to boil, so that it cooks with the meat for a great flavor. Once done, break the Uyayak pod into two parts. Set one part aside (We’d add this later into the soup) and grind the other part into fine powder. Pour the ground powder into some water and stir. Pour the mix through a fine mesh sieve and set aside. 

Step 2: Boil the yam, pound in a mortar and set aside. Rinse and place the chicken into a medium sized pot. Add the dry pepper, salt to taste and the seasoning cubes (crushed). Turn on the burner and steam for about 10 minutes. This allows the meat cook in its own juices which would come out of it once it starts to cook. Once the stock starts to dry up, pour some water to the level of the meat and taste if the seasoning is okay. Leave to cook further for about 10 minutes more.

Step 3: Once the meat is tender, pour in the sieved liquid from the Uyayak pod into the meat stock in the pot and drop the other half into the pot. Add in the dry fish and the pounded yam – stir to combine, add the ground crayfish then cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Once the soup thickens to your desire, stir turn off the burner and set aside 

Serve with pounded yam, garri or any type of

swallow

. 

Afia Efere - Efik White Soup

Ingredients

  • • 1 Kilo Unam (Beef)
  • • 500g Assorted meat: Tripe, Cow Hide, Intestine
  • • 1 small sized Uyayak pod "tetrapleura tetraptera"
  • • 3 tbsps. Nsat Ntoko (dry pepper) 
  • • ½ cup obu (crayfish )
  • • 1 large dry fish (soak to soften then rinse) 
  • • 4 slices yam (for thickening) 
  • • 2 seasoning cubes 
  • • 6 medium-sized Uda "Negro pepper"- Optional
  • • 5 small-sized Iwun "Calabash nutmeg"- Optional
  • • Inun (Salt) to taste

Instructions

Preparation:::

• Place the yam in a medium-sized pot, boil the yam till soft, and pound in a mortar - set this aside. 
• Uyayak is the major seasoning for this soup. Prepare the uyayak by roasting it over the fire or in the oven for a few minutes. Once done, break the Uyayak pod into two parts. Set one part aside (We'd add this later into the soup) and grind the other part into fine powder. Pour the ground powder into some water and stir. Pour the mix through a fine mesh sieve and set it aside.
• Roast the Uda & Iwun then Pound - Set Aside
Directions:::
Step 1: Place the assorted meat & Beef in a medium-sized pot. Add the dry pepper, salt to taste, and the seasoning cubes (crushed). Turn on the burner and cook for about 10 minutes. This allows the meat to cook in its own juices which would come out of it once it starts to cook. Pour some water to the level of the meat and taste if the seasoning is okay. Leave to cook further for about 30 minutes.
Step 2: Once the meat is tender, pour the sieved liquid from the Uyayak pod into the meat stock in the pot and drop the other half into the pot. Add in the pounded spices, dry fish, crayfish, and the pounded yam - stir to combine. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes.
Step 3: Once the soup thickens to your desire, stir turn off the burner and set aside. Serve with pounded yam, garri, or your favorite swallow
© Dobby