Banga Soup

Ingredients

• 900g beef shin or goat meat, cut into 1.5-inch chunks
• 150g dried catfish, rinsed and broken into 2-3 pieces
• 100g stockfish, soaked overnight and torn into chunks (skip if unavailable and add more dried fish instead)
• 2 (800g) cans palm fruit concentrate, or 1.5kg fresh palm fruit, boiled and pounded to extract the cream
• 1 oburunbebe bark stick, snapped in half (traditional Niger Delta spice bark; if you can't find it, a 2-inch strip of cassia bark gets you close)
• 3 tbsp dried beletete leaves, crumbled (or substitute 2 tbsp dried bitter leaf)
• 1/3 cup ground crayfish
• 2 medium onions, 1 roughly chopped and 1 finely chopped
• 3-4 scotch bonnet peppers, blended with a splash of water
• 2 seasoning cubes
• Salt, to taste
• 2 cups fresh scent leaf (nchanwu), torn (or substitute basil leaves in a pinch)
• 4 cups water, plus more as needed

Before you cook

• Rinse the beef and goat meat and trim any excess fat
• Soak the stockfish in warm water for at least 2 hours, or overnight, until it softens enough to tear
• Rinse the dried catfish and break it into large pieces, picking out any stray bones
• Peel and roughly chop one onion, and finely chop the second onion separately
• Blend the scotch bonnet peppers with a splash of water into a coarse paste
• If using fresh palm fruit, boil it in water for 20 minutes, then pound it in a mortar and strain through a sieve to extract the red palm cream, discarding the seeds and fibre
• Pick over the scent leaf, discard any tough stems, and tear the leaves by hand

Steps

1. Put the beef and goat meat in a large pot with the roughly chopped onion, one seasoning cube, and a pinch of salt, cover with 4 cups water, and set over medium-high heat
2. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the meat for 25 minutes, until almost tender
3. Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon and set it aside, keeping the stock in the pot
4. Pour the palm fruit concentrate, or your fresh-extracted palm cream, into the stock and stir to combine
5. Add the oburunbebe bark and the crumbled beletete leaves to the pot
6. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat to a steady simmer
7. Let the soup simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the red oil starts separating and rising to the surface
8. Stir in the softened stockfish, dried catfish, and ground crayfish
9. Return the cooked beef and goat meat to the pot
10. Add the finely chopped onion and the blended scotch bonnet paste
11. Simmer for a further 15 minutes, until the soup thickens slightly and the oil pools visibly on top
12. Season with the remaining seasoning cube and salt to taste
13. Fish out the oburunbebe bark and discard it
14. Stir in the torn scent leaf and simmer for 2 more minutes, just until it wilts
15. Serve the soup hot with eba, pounded yam, or white rice