Palm nut soup facts for kids
Palm nut soup is a yummy and popular soup made from the fruit of the palm tree. It is a very common dish in countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast. This tasty soup first came from the Akan tribe in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
In the Akan language, which is spoken by the Akan people of Ghana, palm nut soup is called Abenkwan. It has been a favorite dish in different parts of Ghana for many years. The soup is made using a special palm cream or a base from palm nuts. This palm cream is mixed with delicious marinated meats, smoked dried fish, and other flavorful ingredients. This creates a rich and deeply flavored soup. People often eat it with foods like fufu, omotuo, banku, fonio, or rice. Palm oil is super important in Ghanaian and other West African cooking. This palm nut soup has different names in different places.
Palm Nut Soup Around Africa
In Cameroon
In Cameroonian cuisine, palm fruit soup is known as Mbanga soup. It is often served with a dish called kwacoco. Mbanga soup is Cameroon's version of the West African banga soup, which is also a palm fruit soup eaten in places like Nigeria. In Cameroon, mbanga is made using fresh palm nuts. If fresh nuts are not available, people can use canned palm nuts.
In Nigeria
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In Southern Nigeria, especially among the Urhobo people in the Niger Delta region, a type of palm fruit soup is called Banga. This soup is different from ofe akwu, which is a similar soup found in the Igbo culture. The Bini people also have a palm fruit soup that is made in a similar way to ofe akwu.
In Nigeria, Banga soup is often eaten with other foods. For example, the Urhobo people of Delta State eat it with Starch (Usi). The Igbo people have both stew and soup versions made from palm fruits. Ofe akwu is a stew that is usually eaten with rice. In the Anambra region of Igbo land, the palm fruit extract is used to make Oha and Onugbu soup. These soups are eaten with "swallow" foods like pounded cassava (utara/akpu) or corn/cassava flour (nni oka). The palm fruit is very important to the Igbo people.
The palm fruit is usually picked from local palm trees. Then, it is washed well, boiled, and mashed. This helps to get out the oil, which is the main ingredient for making Banga soup.
Banga soup gets its flavor from special spices like beletete, aidan fruit, rohojie, and Banga spice leaves called Obenetietien. Sometimes, scent or bitter leaves are used instead. Other ingredients include a stick of oburunbebe, finely chopped onion, ground crayfish, chili pepper or scotch bonnet, and salt. This soup is sometimes eaten with a cocoyam pudding called kwacoco. Banga Soup is most often made with fresh catfish (called fresh fish Banga soup) or with dried/smoked fish or meat. You can also add Okra vegetable to the soup to make it even more delicious.
Amiedi, also known as banga soup, is a soup eaten by the Urhobo people of Southern Nigeria. It is made by taking out the liquid from palm kernels. Then, other ingredients like crayfish, meat, fish, pepper, and cow tripe are added. People eat it with eba or usi (starch).
Gallery
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Palm nut soup with fish
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Palm nut soup
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Akan Ghanaian palm nut soup
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Palm nut soup close up
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Palm nut soup on fire
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Fufu with palm nut soup, snail and tilapia
See also
In Spanish: Banga (sopa) para niños
