About this Dish
A rich, aromatic soup made from palm fruit extract cooked with seafood, beef or fish and spiced with local herbs. Indigenous to the Delta and Urhobo people of southern Nigeria, banga soup is one of the most complex and flavourful soups in Nigerian cuisine.
IngredientsServes 4
🌴Palm fruit concentrate (banga), 800ml tin or freshly extracted
🐟Catfish or tilapia, 500g cut into chunks
🥩Beef or goat meat, 300g cut into bite-sized pieces
🦐Dried crayfish, 3 tablespoons ground
🧅White onion, 1 medium roughly chopped
🌶️Scotch bonnet peppers, 2-3 blended or whole
🌿Banga spice mix (oburunbebe stick, obeletientien, ataiko), 2 tablespoons
🍃Fresh or dried beletete leaves (or substitute fresh basil), small handful
🧂Seasoning cubes, 2 and salt to taste
🐠Stockfish, 100g soaked and shredded
Method
1
If using fresh palm fruits, boil them for 30-40 minutes until soft, then pound and extract the juice by mixing with warm water and straining through a sieve. If using tinned concentrate, pour it straight into a pot over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer.2
Season the beef and stockfish with one seasoning cube, a pinch of salt, and half the chopped onion, then boil together for 25-30 minutes until tender. Set the cooked meat and stock aside.3
Add the cooked meat, stockfish, and a little of the meat stock to the simmering palm fruit extract. Stir in the blended scotch bonnet peppers, remaining onion, and ground crayfish, then let everything cook together for 15 minutes on medium heat.4
Stir in the banga spice mix, which gives the soup its distinctive aromatic flavour. Taste and adjust seasoning with the remaining cube and salt, then let the soup simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick.5
Gently lower in the fish pieces and cook for 8-10 minutes until the fish is cooked through but still holds its shape. Be careful not to stir too vigorously or the fish will break apart.6
Add the beletete leaves in the final 3-4 minutes of cooking and stir through — these fragrant leaves finish the soup with a signature herbal depth. The soup should be thick, deeply coloured, and richly aromatic when ready.7
Remove from heat and serve hot with starch (cassava starch), eba, or pounded yam for an authentic Delta-style meal.User Reviews
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