Afang soup and spicy marinara

Cooking doesn’t have to always be one-way to be delicious. Afang soup and spicy marinara sauce is a sumptuous combo recipe with unique taste that leaves you craving for more. Try this native Efik soup; you will be glad you did.

Ingredients for spicy marinara sauce

1/4 cup olive oil (good quality) 1/2 onion (chopped) 2 to 3 cloves garlic (minced) 1 (28-ounce) tomatoes (crushed or diced) 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher salt) 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup fresh basil (chopped into ribbons)

Sliced fresh water leaves (1kg) 1/2 cup of ground crayfish Ground fresh ukazi leaves (200g) 2seasoning cubes 1 stock fish head (medium size) 2 medium sized dried or roasted fish 1.5 cups of palm oil 1 cup of Periwinkles or snails (optional) Salt and pepper to taste (red fresh pepper) Kpomo (Optional) 1-2KG of any meat of choice.

Steps to make spicy marinara sauce

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion and the garlic for just few minutes until soft. Add in the tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps to make Afang soup

Assorted meat is the most suitable for Afang soup but if you can’t find it in your location you can use any meat you find. For this recipe, we used goat meat.

Wash the snails with lime juice or grape juice and be sure it is rid of its slimy fluid. Although, sellers usually clean the periwinkle (isam) or snails, you would need to still wash.

Start by parboiling the meat with all the necessary ingredients (2 cubes of seasoning, half cup of sliced onions, salt and other spice of choice)

Wash the waterleaves before slicing them and set aside in a plastic sieve to make sure that water properly drain away.

The ground ukazi leaves act as a thickener for the soup, if you can’t find fresh stuff in your location, go ahead and substitute with the dried alternative.

Rinse and boil the stockfish for 4 minutes to remove any stench and make it soft. Pour away the water.

Soak the dried fish with warm water, remove the center bones and wash thoroughly with just water.

Add stockfish and dried fish to the cooking meat, and cook until they are soft and the pot is almost dry. Add the palm oil and stir all together.

Add ground pepper, snails and salt to taste, allow cooking for 3-5 minutes.

Add the waterleaves; allow simmering for 5 minutes before adding the, ground ukazi, and ground crayfish

Stir all together, cover the pot and allow simmering for another 4 minutes, stir every 2 minutes.

That is how to prepare afang soup, it can be served with fufu, eba, pounded yam, wheat.