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Recipes with waterleaf

3 recipes that use waterleaf, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Edikang ikong, takes 80 minutes. It is most often cooked with crayfish, onion and red palm oil.

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Afang soup

Ask anyone from Calabar or Uyo what to serve a guest and afang will come up first. Finely shredded afang leaves, chewy and a little nutty, are cooked down with a mountain of waterleaf, palm oil, beef, cow skin, stockfish and periwinkles, and the waterleaf gives off all the liquid the soup needs. It is thick, dark green and deeply savoury, and it goes with pounded yam, fufu or eba. Outside Nigeria, frozen ground afang (also sold as okazi) and spinach stand in well. Periwinkles must be bought cleaned from a reputable seller; discard any with cracked shells or an off smell. Chef's tip: never add water to afang; if it looks dry, cover the pot for a minute and the waterleaf will release more.

90 minNigerianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Edikang ikong

Edikang ikong is the soup of celebrations in Calabar: weddings, Christmas and the visits of in-laws, when the pot is crowded with assorted meat, stockfish, dried fish and periwinkles. The base is two leaves, ugu (fluted pumpkin) for body and colour, and waterleaf for moisture, cooked so briefly that the soup stays bright green and fresh-tasting under the palm oil. Serve it with pounded yam, fufu or garri. If you cannot find ugu, use spinach mixed with a little kale. Buy periwinkles cleaned from a trusted seller and throw out any with broken shells. Chef's tip: add the ugu last, off a high heat, and stop after three or four minutes; the usual mistake is stewing it until it goes black and slimy.

80 minNigerianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ofe okazi

Okazi soup belongs to the Igbo southeast, from Owerri and Aba to Nsukka, and it is weekend food, cooked when the whole family is home. Shredded okazi leaves (the same plant called afang in Calabar) give a pleasant chew and a faintly nutty, bitter edge; the soup is thickened with pounded cocoyam and enriched with palm oil, crayfish, stockfish and beef. Many cooks add waterleaf or ugu for softness. Eat it with garri, fufu or pounded yam. Dried okazi is easy to find in African shops but needs soaking. Chef's tip: soak dried okazi in warm water for 15 minutes before adding it; leaving it dry is the usual mistake and gives a woody, gritty soup.

80 minNigerianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with waterleaf