Abak Mbakara is a palm nut soup native to the Niger-Delta areas of Nigeria. It is not a very different from Banga soup, and taste equally good.
According to Effi Amah (who helped with this recipe), Abak Mbakara is the sea food version of Banga soup, but most people cook it to suit their needs, palate and budget .
Here's how to prepare it.
Ingredients for Abak Mbakara
- 1 can Palm fruit extract or 2kg fresh palm fruits
- 1 Fresh fish(any of choice)
- 1 cup Periwinkles (use boiled small snails as substitute)
- 1 fresh yellow Pepper(aka scent pepper) (chopped)
- 3 handful Water leaves
- 2 tablespoonful ground Crayfish or fresh prawns
- 1 small sized Onions(minced or chopped)
- 2 Stock cube/seasoning cube
- salt to taste
Note: feel free to add dried fish, stock fish, fresh prawns, crabs or any other sea food of choice.
Preparation
1. Wash and chop the water leaves and set aside.
2. Clean, cut and parboil the fish for 2 minutes with a little water, chopped onions, 1 stock cube and salt to taste; and set aside for later use.
3. If using fresh palm fruits, wash and boil in a pot of water until soft.
Then pour into a mortar and extract the oily pulp. Add a little hot water to help scoop out the extract; and then transfer into a wide pot.
But, if using the canned ones(like I'm using), pour the palm fruit extract into a wide pot and leave to boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the cooked small snails or fresh periwinkles and continue boiling for another 10 minutes or until the oil begins to rise to the top of the palm fruit extract.
If using extract from fresh palm fruit, leave to boil until it thickens.
4. Now, add the ground crayfish, chopped pepper and the remaining stock cube.
Mix well and add the parboiled fish and fish stock(liquid from the fish pot); stir gently and leave to simmer for 5 minutes or until the fish is done cooking.
5. Adjust for salt and add the chopped water leaves. Simmer for 3 minutes and put off the heat.
Stir gently and serve hot with fufu, starch or any swallow of choice.
