Native soup..... The Rivers way!!

Native soup is the general term used to describe particular kinds of soups from various tribes in Nigeria. For example, in Cross Rivers  and Akwa-Ibom state we have Edikang-ekong (Oops! Hope I spelt that right), Afang soup, Fisherman soup, which happens to be one of my all time favourites and so many others. In Edo state we have Ogbono soup, Banga soup, Black soup ( don't judge it by it's name; it is finger licking, gum smacking delicious and also has medicinal properties) e.t.c Now in Rivers State  it's almost like every family has their native soup because there are so many tribes. You would think each tribe would stick to a  particular recipe but no, the tribes are further broken down till they have small villages, some as small as a distance of 1 km and they don't speak the same language as the neighbouring village, how much more share the same recipe for soup. So you see why it feels like every family has it's own soup recipe .I'm from Edo state but I was born and raised in Rivers and I'm married to one of it's finest *wink*, so I know what I'm talking about.  Being a food lover, I tried to explore all these recipes but half way through my adventure, it dawned on me that I might not be able to go through all of them in my life time so I decided to leave the rest of the adventure to my future generation. Here is the surprising part, in Rivers State there's a type of soup known as Native soup. There's no other vernacular name attached it, it is just known as "Native soup" plain and simple. If you go to a restaurant and you order for Native soup, they won't as you what kind because they assume that you are talking about the "Native soup", so they simply bring this soup. So I've decided to share my "Native soup" recipe with y'all. This recipe was inspired by my good friend Onimim Karibo a.k.a Fifi, I tweaked it a little just to add my magic. Enjoy!!

PREP TIME: 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 1hr 30mins
DIFFICULTY: Intermediate
SERVINGS: 10

INGREDIENTS

1) Beef or Goat meat or both

2) Stock fish

3) Roasted periwinkle ( it's a bit more expensive than the fresh one but it is worth it)- (2cups or as desired)

4) Whelks (English) or Ngolo (Kalabari)- ( 2 cups or as desired)

5) Fresh shrimps ( large ones)

6) Snails ( as desired)

7) Oysters (English) or Ofingor (Kalabari)- (as desired)

8) Uziza leaf ( a small bunch )

9) Fresh pepper or Ata Rodo (Yoruba) or Scotch Bonnet ( Spanish )

10) Salt ( To taste )

11)  Red Onion ( 2 medium sized)

12) Knorr stock cube ( 3 cubes)

13) Ofor ( 2 tablespoons or more if necessary )

14) Palm oil ( 1 cooking spoon )

PREPARATION

1) Wash and season meat with salt and 1 knorr cube  add one chopped onion and steam ( Check Goat meat pepper soup recipe for best way to steam meat). While the meat cooks, prepare the other ingredients, for example wash the periwinkle properly because roasted periwinkle usually has some sand in it, wash the whelks ( they are usually cleaned in the market but if they aren't, clean by peeling off the soft skin, after which you will notice a dark greenish or black spot, pull it out with your fingers and you're good but in order to save time just ask the seller in the market to clean it), peel and de-vein the shrimp ( simply remove the head, peel off the back, use a knife to slightly open the back of the shrimp I.e from up to down, you'll see a thread like vein, remove it and you're good to go), wash and chop the leaves, blend the pepper and remaining onions till smooth.

2) At this point the meat should be cooked,  if not add a little more water and leave to cook for some minutes. While the meat is cooking, rinse the stock fish with some water, season with salt and knorr cube , add some water till it just cover the stock fish. Cook for about 15 minutes or until  it's soft enougn to chew. When the stock fish is cooked, add the fish and the stock to the meat, this will concentrate the taste of  the soup some more, since the meat stock is the base of the soup.

3) Season the snail with salt and knorr cube, add enough water to cover the snail half way and steam for 10 minutes ( Ravineux Tip: I prefer my snail not too hard not too soft, so I cook it for a very short while, it will still be a bit hard but that's not a problem because the rest of the cooking will be done inside the soup, this way the soup permeates the skin of the snail and gives the snail a richer taste).

4)Add the blended pepper, palm oil, shrimps and snails to the steaming meat and stock pot, leave to cook for about 5 minutes so the palm oil can mix the rest of the stock and the shrimp can cook properly ( Ravineux  Tip : I like to cook my shrimp in meat stock rather than plain water. So whenever you have a recipe that requires you to cook your shrimp, try cooking it in any left over meat stock you have in your fridge, you'll notice how different and rich the shrimp will taste). Add the rest of the ingredients and the ofor (ofor is the yellow powdery substance shown in the first picture, on the top left extreme, it is used as a thickening agent for soups and other delicacies. It is mostly used by the Ibos). You might not notice the ofor at work immediately it is added but when the heat is turned off and the soup begins to cool, it will go from a watery consistency to a slightly thicker consistency. Be careful not to add too much because when the soup has had time to cool off, it will be as thick as custard. (Ravineux Tip : Some people have allergic reactions to ofor, in a situation like this, I prefer to use garri as a thickening agent or pounded yam. The starch in both help to thicken what ever you use them for). Finally add the chopped uziza leaves. This is the last ingredient to be added so it doesn't over cook.

There you have it, Native soup...  the Rivers way!!!