How to make Afang Soup?

Afang Soup is one dish that you will find commonly in many homes in Cross river and Akwa Ibom States of Nigeria. Afang or Okazi also known botanically as Cnetum is widely available in Central Africa. The Nigerian equatorial forest holds such abundance  of vegetation that is used both for food and medicinal purpose. It is a forest vegetable but can also be grown domestically. As with most vegetables, it is rich in vitamins and minerals. Some variants contain high levels of laxatives. If you are constipated this might be the type of soup for you.

Local music artists feel obliged to mention Afang if the lyricsof their songs has to do with food just to lend credence to its popularity. The presence of this soup on the menu always guarantees that most people will be present at lunch time . For reasons of popular demand by my family I find that I always have this soup in my freezer. Afang  is on my menu so often that it is unbelievable.

Cooking Afang Soup to retain the fresh green color of the vegetables is the real deal I am sharing in this recipe.  You do not want to have a grey colored Afang served up on the first day of cooking.
So the trick is cook the soup add the oil, turn off the heat and add the Afang and stir off the fire.  What you have is a soup that is fresh, green and not over cooked. As most of us do not cook a soup like Afang to be consumed at once , reheating still keeps the soup looking and tasting almost freshly cooked.

One look at the ingredients  list could signal a lot of work ! Who says you have to prepare everything at cooking time ? I can easily fix Afang  soup, on a Thursday , how do I do it?  Pounded Afang leaves , dressed periwinkles which  are the steps that  take up some time to get ready  are always in my freezer. So you can fix Afang soup on a weekday if you wish. Get the ingredients ready a few days ahead of cooking, so you have less stress.

Recipe for Afang Soup

Ingredients
8 medium pieces Beef
1 handful Stockfish pieces
10 pieces Cow skin
1 medium size smoked Shine nose Fish
1 cup Periwinkle ( topped & tailed)
4 pieces Cow leg
Water leaves ( 5 handfuls chopped)
Afang  leaves( 3cups pounded)
4 pieces Yellow Pepper
30 cl Palm oil
1 crayfish seasoning tablet
2 beef seasoning cubes
2 liters Water
Salt to taste

Method
1,Season the beef and cow legs with 2 pieces of  pepper, beef seasoning, salt
2, Steam meat in its own juice till it is almost dry
3, Add 1/2 liter of water and cook till meat is almost soft
4, Add the stock fish, and cow skin and cook till soft
5, Add the remaining water, crayfish , pepper, crayfish seasoning, and washed smoked fish and allow to start boiling then add the periwinkle
6, Boil for another 5 minutes. Taste for salt.
7, Add the palm oil and cook for  2 -3 minutes
8,Add  the chopped water leaves and cook for 5 minutes
9 , Turn off the heat and add the Afang  and stir properly
10, Serve with any morsel of choice.

Tips:
1,Do not stir the water leaves right after you added to the pot, it could become slimy. Allow to cook for about 3 minutes before stirring.
2. Ensure that soup pot is boiling when adding periwinkle else it becomes difficult to sock out of the shell.