Edikang Ikong soup is a soup recipe made with a generous amount of fresh leafy vegetables, dried fish and assorted meat. It is native to the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states. Due to the fact that it is very nutritious the soup is now very popular, almost every tribe cooks this soup delicacy. Before now the soup used to be the soup of the rich because of the ingredients that is used in preparing the soup. But today with a little money you can cook edikang Kong soup all it requires is good knowledge of recipe combination.
Vegetable soup preparation
The good thing is that the ingredients for preparing edikang ikong soup is available anywhere in the country. You can plant few seeds of the leaves at your backyard and then your pot of soup is just by you. Water leaf and pumpkin leaves (ugu, ikong ubong) are the important leaves used for the preparation of edikang ikong soup. Some people say you can use Spinach and Lamb lettuce/Mache(Valerianella locusta) in place of pumpkin leaves and water leaves.
An adage in pigin says ‘If e no be Panadol e no fit be like Panadol’ so if it is not water leaf and pumpkin leave then it can never taste like it. As such should not be called edikang ikong soup but vegetable soup. Before now, Edikang Ikong soup was referred to as the ”soup of the wealthy”. Because of the number of rich proteins used in preparing the soup; but today, anyone can enjoy this delicious soup.
Edikang Ikong Soup recipe
- 1kg fluted Pumpkin leaves(Ugu)
- 200g Water leaves
- 500g of assorted meat(cow tripe (shaki),snails,
- cow’sskin(kanda),Stockfish(optional)
- Smoked fish or dry fish
- 250ml palm oil1 cup
- 1 cup of Periwinkles (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of ground crayfish
- 2 stock cubes
- 1 medium sized onion
- fresh pepper (as desired)
- salt to tast
Direction for the Preparation of Edikang Ikong Soup
- Wash the leaves very well with plenty water in a big bowl many times (about 3-4 times) to wash off dirt and sand. Any little sand will reduce the value of the soup this is especially for those cooking for commercial purposes. The leaves should be washed separately. That is ugu and waterleaf should not be mixed to wash.
- Cut the leaves into small sizes and set aside.
- Wash and cut the periwinkle very well, pour hot water and salt into it, set aside.
- Wash the dry fish and stock fish and set aside.
- Wash the meat into a pot,
Cooking of Traditional Edikang Ikong Soup
- Place the pot of meat on fire, add seasoning (Maggie, knorr), pepper, onions, salt and cook for 5 minutes. The water for the stock should be very little but I used only the water for the meat. But where no water comes out or its very little I can then add a little quantity of water. Because edikang ikong soup doesn’t need much water.
- Add the prepared stock fish, dry fish and periwinkle to the pot to cook, until they are soft. Always make sure you start by cooking the toughest meat first.
- Turn the cut water leaf into the cooking pot, add palm oil, crayfish, stock cube, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. And stir
- Add the cut ugu leaves, allow to simmer for 3 minutes stir and bring the pot down.
- I normally add azuza to my edikang ikong soup because it gives the soup great taste and spice it up.
- Serve with semolina, eba, pounded yam, amala, starch and fufu
NOTE
I added ugu leave last this is because if it stays too long on heat it lost all the vital nutrients. In fact during dry season I normally add ugu after bringing down the pot of soup. This way it will maintain its greenish nature and freshness.
Edikang Ikong soup just like ekpang nkukwo requires generous amount of red palm oil.
Be very careful about the quantity of salt you add, if not it will become very salty. Plenty of crayfish is needed to bring out the taste.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to cook edikang soup, go ahead and try it. If you are a restaurant owner you can use this to attract plenty customers. Edikang ikong soup is always priced higher than other soup.
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