Traditional Efik events are not complete without Afia Efere. Some Nigerian soups are consumed daily and some have been reserved for ceremonial occasions or weekends when families are together and can share this light soup cooked without palm oil ,called Afia Efere (white soup). There are different variants of this soup depending on your tribe. Some tribes in Igbo land call this Ofe Nsala which is cooked with slightly different spice combinations. Cooked with fresh fish ,chicken, goat meat this soup is just a delight .
Aroma of roasted spices, aroma of goat or chicken fills the air and women slamming away on mortars filled with yams and delivering mounds of pounded yam.This was the sight and sound of the kitchen at the traditional event of my father’s recent coronation as Paramount ruler. You can imagine that my inspiration for Afia Efere is of course from that ceremony.
I particularly find this soup interesting when you want to take a break from palm oil. Adding some chunks of okromakes this soup even more interesting for me but you can skip this. I also added pieces of smoked fish to provide something to ‘escort’ the pounded yam to the mouth.
The spices for this soup, African nutmeg(iwun) and Aidan fruit (uyayak) and of course dried chili pepper makes this simple soup a treat.
Recipe for Afia Efere
Whole broiler chicken ( cut into pieces)
Hand full Smoked fish( shredded)
6 fingers okro( optional)
2 tablespoons Crayfish( ground)
1 tablespoon dried pepper( adjust to your tolerance level)
2 pieces blended African nutmeg( iwun)
2 pieces Aidan fruit( size of your little finger)
1 crayfish seasoning tablet
1 beef seasoning cube
Salt to taste
Method
Season the chicken with pepper, salt ,beef seasoning and 1 uyayak and allow to marinate for about 30minutes
Meanwhile boil the yam and pound till very resilient. Do not pound with water. and set aside
Steam the chicken until water dries up.
Add some water and steam the chicken for about 20 minutes or until chicken is half cooked
Add about 4 cups of water, crayfish, fish, remaining pepper, spices and crayfish seasoning and bring to boil
Flatten out the pounded yam into about 3-4 pieces and add to the soup and boil till it dissolve completely .
Add the pieces of Okro.
Cook for 5 minutes
Serve with pounded yam
Mouth watering stuff! However, how much yam is required? I see that yam is not listed under “Recipe” but pops up under “Method”
Funke, thank you for the comment. You need just a medium slice of yam to achieve the desired consistency for the soup.
Links…
[…]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]……
[…] wonder that her recipe inspired the creation of this dish today. Head on over to her blog for the recipe. I decided to serve mine with some peanuts and white rice. Some may prefer Pounded yam or Eba. […]
Why is there Okro in this Afia Efere recipe? I make mine with goat meat and it gives the soup such a good flavor.
Hi, Affiong. I do make Afia Efere with goat meat too, quite nice. Adding chunks of Okoro to my chicken Afia Efere is just a variant and to bring some sort of veggies into the soup. It’s an option which I like particularly if I want to have the soup as the meal.