Step by step guide on how to cook calabar soup

Edikang-Ikong Soup

There are various dishes in Calabar, one of which is the popular Edikang-Ikong soup. Edikang Ikong is a very expensive Nigerian dish and arguably Nigeria's most popular cosmopolitan dish. This special delicacy is prepared with vegetable pumpkin leaves (ikong ubong/ugwu), water leaf (mong mong Ikong), fish, meat, periwinkle (mfi ikpok), palm oil, cray fish and other essential ingredients. It can also be eaten with either garri, fufu, amala, tuwo, semovita or pounded yam.
Recipe

• Ikg/21b assorted meat (beef, oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto and bush meat), snails (washed with lemon and limes)
• 450g/1lb stockfish (pre-soaked)
• 450g/1lb dry fish (thoroughly washed)
• 450g/1lb periwinkles
• 225g/8oz whole dry prawns (cleaned)
• 225g/8oz ground crayfish
• 1.35kg/3lb fresh Ikong ubong (pumpkin leaves; washed & shredded)
• 1kg/21b fresh waterleaf (washed and shredded)
• 200ml palm oil
• 600ml/1pt stock
• and salt to taste

Preparation
Wash the meat thoroughly and place in a large pot. Add some sliced onions, ground chillies and some meat stock. Place on heat and cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove the snail from the shells and wash thoroughly with lime or lemon juice to remove slime. Wash the smoked dry fish with salt and soak in slightly salted water for 5 minutes in order to kill any insect and loosen any sand or dirt.
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 another 10 minutes and add more stock fish if required. Finally add the shredded Ikong Ubong (pumpkin leaves) and waterleaf, mix in properly. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes and then add the crayfish and palm oil. Give it a good stir and gentle 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.

Editan Soup

Ingredients	Quantity
Snails (optional)	4 medium size
Smoked Fish	1 large size
Stockfish head	1 medium size
Beef (optional)	8 medium pieces
Periwinkle (in shell)	2 cups
Editan leaves	1 big bunch
Water leaves	4 medium bunches
Crayfish (ground)	3 tablespoons
Dry Pepper	1 level tablespoon
Palm oil	4 cooking spoons
Maggi Cubes	3 1½ litres Water
Salt	(to taste)

.
Preparation
Wash, season and boil the stockfish together with the beef for about 45 minutes and set aside for use later. Wash and bone the fish. Pour boiling water on already cut and pounded leaves then, strain. Rinse the leaves thrice to reduce the bitterness. Pick and wash the waterleaves and cut into tiny pieces. Get rid of some of its water by squeezing a little bunch at a time between your palms. Pick and wash the Odusa leaves then cut into fine pieces.Periwinkle can be used either in the shell, which is the traditional way, or out of shell.Chop off the tail end of the Periwinkle with a large knife, wash thoroughly to remove all dirt, and mud. Add waterleaves into the pot containing the meat and stockfish already placed on the burner.
Stir, add fish, crayfish, pepper, water, and Maggi cubes and allow cooking for another 6 minutes. Stir and add the palm oil. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the Editan leaves and cover the pot. Do not stir immediately after adding Editan leaves, then cook for 10-15 minutes but you can shake the pot to enable the leaves have an even spread. After 10-15 minutes, stir and taste the soup. Add salt if necessary, and cook for another 4 minutes. Editan soup is served with fufu, ekpang iwa or eba.

Afia Efere Soup

This light Efik soup is traditionally cooked without oil using goatmeat or chicken in which case, they are called "afia efere ebot" or "afia efere unen" respectively. Fresh fish can also be used.
Ingredients

• I kg/2lbs fresh goatmeat
• I medium smoked fish (washed)
• 250g/8oz fresh okro (sliced) - optional
• 100g/4oz ground crayfish
• 250g/8oz pounded yam
• 25g/I oz chopped fresh chillies
• I uyayakpod
• 1ltr/2pints stock or water
• salt to taste

Preparation
Wash and cut the meat into even size pieces. Season with salt and boil for 30 minutes or until soft and tender. Add the stock, washed fish, chopped chillies, okro and ground crayfish. Break the uyayak pod into small pieces and add to the pot.
Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Mould the pounded yam into small rounds and drop into the soup to slightly thicken. Add seasoning and serve with pounded yam.

Ekpang Nkukwo Dish

Ingredients

• 5 tubers of Cocoyams - grated into a paste (when buying, ask for the tiny ones for Ekpang Nkukwo, not the ones for boiling)
• Half wateryam - also grated into a paste
• Mfi (Periwinkle with the shell)
• One bottle of palm oil
• Ibat (dried fish)
• A cup of crayfish
• 5 cubes of maggi
• Fresh pepper
• Ntong leaves or iko leaves-shredded (they are all spice leaves)
• A bunch of young cocoyams leaves, shredded for wrapping( you can ask someone to help you shred the leaves for wrapping the cocoyams into the tender leaves)
• Ikpa i.e. ponmo, cut into tiny bits
• Snail (optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation
Put some palm oil in the pot to cover the base of the pot, pour in the periwinkes. Mix the cocoyams with the wateryam, add sallt to the mixture and knead. Wrap the mixture into the cocoyam leaves little by little. After wrapping and arrangin in pot, add pepper, crayfish, maggi cubes, dry fish, ikpa and every other ingredient on the top of the food. Pour in some hot water. This is to prevent it from getting burnt while boiling and also note; do not stir it until it is done. When it is done, use a spatula to stir it gently and mix the ingredients. Do not stir it vigorously or else it will end up looking like egusi soup. After it is well browned, add more palm oil and other ingredients as you wish. Allow to boil more, you can then taste the cooking as the itchiness from the leaves and cocoyam has now been neutralised. Bring it down and serve it hot.

Afang Soup

Ingredients

• I kg/21bs assorted meats (oxtail, tripe, ponmo, bokoto and bushmeat)
• 4 snails (washed with lemon or lime)
• 450g/1lb stockfish (pre-soaked)
• 450g/1lb dried fish (washed)
• 225g/8oz periwinkle (top and tail shell)
• 225g/8oz whole dry prawns (cleaned)
• 225g/8oz ground crayfish
• 225g/8oz ground pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 450g/1lb afang leaves (washed, shredded and pounded)
• 1kg/21bs waterleaf (prepared and washed)
• 290ml/10fl oz Palm-oil
• 600ml/1pt stock or water
• salt to taste

Preparation
Wash the assorted meat thoroughly and place in a pot. Add the sliced onions, ground chillies and some stock or water. Cook for 30minutes. Meanwhile, remove the snails from their shells and wash with lemon or lime juice to remove slime. Wash the smoked dry fish with salt and leave soaking in boiling water for 5-8 minutes to kill any insect and loosen any sand or grit. Rinse out thoroughly with lots of cold water.
With the blunt end of a knife, top and tail the periwinkles and wash thoroughly. Add the prepared ingredients and the stock fish to the pot of meat, continue cooking for additional 10 minutes, adding more stock as required.
Finally, add the pounded Afang leaves, washed waterleaf and crayfish. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil. Add palm oil, check seasoning and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the aroma fills the kitchen and the soup is well blended. Remove from heat, dish unto a plate and serve with pounded yam or fufu.