What are the spices used for cooking native Banga soup?
This is one question I get from friends and subscribers.Most of them complain that the Igbo’s Ofe Akwu doesn’t have similar taste to the Banga soup they have eaten at parties or restaurants.
The fact is that Ofe Akwu and Banga soup are both Nigerian Soups made with the concentrated extract from Palm fruits/Palm nuts, but the spices used for cooking Banga soup differs a lot from that used for Ofe Akwu.
While Ofe Akwu is usually served with boiled White Rice and Boiled Yams, Banga soup is served with fufu meals, starch(Usi), Eba, Amala , Tuwo Masara, Wheat meal and other Nigerian Bolus meals.
So here are a few of the Banga Soup Spices:
* Oburunbebe stick: this brown herbal stick makes a big difference in the taste and aroma of the Banga soup. It is usually added towards the end of the soup making process and left for 10 minutes ,so that the flavour is infused into the soup.Oburunbebe stick can be re-utilized for subsequent cooking.
* Aidan Fruit (Uyayak, Tyko or yanghanyanghan) : The skin of this fruit is used for preparing Banga soup. It is ground to powder and added to soups.
The scientific name is Tetrapleura tetraptera
*Rohojie: this is a tiny brown seed that is ground or pounded with the Aidan fruit to give the banga soup its unique flavour and taste.
*Obeletientien : this is a spice used for garnishing . It actually doesnt add any extra taste to the soup, but helps complete the foods presentation and only a little is used.Dried mint leaves can be used as a substitute.
All these spices can be found at the local markets or African stores if you live outside Nigeria.
By Nky Lily Lete
Help. ? my banga soup taste bitter in my throat. What do I do?
Author
Hi Antonia, what spices did you use and
did you follow our cooking instructions for banga soup?
The last time I cooked ofe Akwu, I bought powdered banga spice in the market and the taste of the ofe Akwu was very lovely. I decided to make another one today, but unfortunately for me, I couldn't differentiate the banga spice from the peppersoup spice I had. I ended up adding a little bit of both. Right now I can't even tell the taste of my stew. But it seems to be nice. Well done sis for your posts. There's nothing I cook without consulting you, whether or not I know how to do it. You've helped me improve my cooking skills. God bless you plenty.
Author
LOL! Thanks Chinonye for your feedback. You surely made my day ?.
Please can you tell me what the small round things are, which are between the aidan fruit and the oburunbebe stick, in the picture? Thank you so much!
Good day madam, I really love what you just did.may God bless you.please madam am a botanists and am working on a project of spices found in itsekiri and here are few of them. Please can I get the common names of these spices you just mentioned. Here is my email [email protected].. I really hope to hear from you thanks
Gud day madam, very interesting idea y just gave to u.God bless u..please what are the common names of these spices used for this soup..please ma can you please inbox me or can I get your email address. Here is mine [email protected]. I hope to hear from you
Hi Nky, thanks for the video and cooking instruxtions. Pls Is d oburunbebe cinnamon by any chance?
Yummy
🙂
Hi Lili all these spices should have a botanic names other than than the local names Could U pls tell us the English names of the spices. tnx Clair robert.
Hi Clair, I will keep you updated as soon as I have the rest.For the Aidan Fruit it is known as Tetrapleura tetraptera .
There is an African store near me but I didn't see these are there any alternatives
There are no alternatives.
Thanks dear, God bless you. Will send in my pics.
Good to see you back dear, I'll be expecting them 🙂
Thanks a lot for sharing such an awesome recipevisit : http://www.fazlani.com/
You're welcome aneesh.
Thnks I hope to try it soon
You're welcome dear 🙂
Is lovely I just cook mine,but is watery.hw can I make it thick
Wow, I guess you added excess water to your soup.Let it cook a little longer before putting it off. The banga soup will thicken further when it cools.
Hi dear, The thick brown stuff is the UyayakThe light brown stick is the oburunbebeThe seeds are the rohojie The others in the plate are optionalsee the video I just included so that you can distinguish.Hope you cook the soup soon 🙂
I live in texas and my husband is an Nigerian and i would love to cook banga soup for him but i can't seem to find the banga spice so where can i get it.
please dear, can u pls distiguish for me, which is which? The thick brown stuff at the upper left is called what? And the light brown stuff beside it is called what? I guess the seeds are the Rohojie seeds. I've seen the small black stuffs beside it but i do not know it's name too. Hope to prepare it soon