Cookery: How to make Fisherman Soup

 

 

Fisherman soup which appears to have originated from Riverine communities, especially the Niger Delta, has become a household delicacy in most part of Nigeria.

 

The soup which is rich in fish and other seafood, can be eaten with most swallow, including pounded yam, semo and garri.

 

To make a household Fisherman soup, you need the following ingredients

 

• 1KG of meat
• 10 pieces of stock fish ear (nti okporoko)
• 1 cups of sliced uziza leaves
• 2 medium size dry fish
• Cocoa yam as thickener
• 300ml of palm oil
• 3 seasoning cubes
• 2 cups of periwinkles
• 1 cups of ngolo
• 1 cup of ground crayfish
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Two handful of fresh prowns
• 2 spoons of ofor (alternative thickener)

 

 

How to prepare the soup

 

STEP 1

I like to start by parboiling the meat with all the necessary ingredients. Most cooks forget that parboiling the meat and obtaining the stock (water left after parboiling) is an important part of the Nigerian cooking process.

 

Parboil the meat with just 2 cubes of maggi, 1 bulb of onions, salt and may be a sachet of onga classic (a very popular Nigerian spice for soup).

 

My choice of meat is hard to cook, takes about 50-60 minutes before you commence with the rest of the cooking.

 

Step 2

Use this time to prepare the other ingredients; wash and slice the uziza leaves.

 

Soak the stockfish and dry fish with boiled water and wash thoroughly to remove sand and center bone. Grind the crayfish and fresh pepper also, you can grind together or grind separately.

 

Step 3

 

Add the washed dry fish/stockfish in the boiling meat on the fire, after about 30-50 minutes of cooking just the meat.

 

Once they are soft and the water is almost dried (about 1 cup left), add about 5-7 cups of water, palm oil, and the ground crayfish.

 

Allow the soup to cook for another ten minutes before adding salt to taste, a cube of maggi. Maggi is a natural food sweetener, used in making almost all the foods eaten in Nigeria.

 

Step 4

 

Add the washed/cleaned ngolo, stir, add the cocoyam, allow to dissolve in 8-10 minutes. If it is still very watery you can add a spoon of ofor, cook for three minutes before adding the periwinkles, prawn and sliced uziza leaves which is likely the last ingredient while making River state native soup.

 

Allow to simmer for another five minutes and you just made Nigerian’s most popular native soup.