Top Nigerian Soups and Swallow

It’s true Nigerians love their soup and swallow.

I have a friend who would fall sick if she doesn’t have a swallow within a maximum of three days.

So yes, that expression is true. We love our swallow just as much as we love our spice.

Nigeria has a collection of amazing dishes.

Hello, Richard Quest and Cardi B already settled the Nigerian Jollof debate. When it comes to food, we are that good.

 “I want to go to the f**king hood, I wanna see like the real Nigeria I don’t wanna eat hotel food I want like real Nigerian food, all that fish all that jollof rice”. – Cardi B.

However, when we say soup in Nigeria, we mean something completely different from an apple puree starter or a chicken soup. In Nigeria, soup refers to any liquid delicacy eaten with swallow.

You can’t have it any other way.

Like our fashion, food in Nigeria reflects our culture, from the flavour of sweet herbs available in different regions to the assorted dishes unique to each cultural region.

So, if you’re making a trip to Nigeria, and you plan on exploring our food. I know the absolute favourite soups you should try out.

PS: These photo’s are courtesy of Long Spoon Kitchen, and other food blogs on Instagram.

Pepper Soup

Don’t let the name frighten you; your host can adjust the spice to your taste. Pepper soup can serve as a starter or a main dish. It depends on how it’s served.

Pepper soup can be served as a starter with offal, beef, chicken, fish or bush meat. Each of these protein affects the flavour. Different fish also bring a distinct flavour to the meal.

You can have a combination of any of these proteins with yam, sweet potato or ripe plantain.

In Rivers State, I know a certain tribe eat fish pepper soap with eba. Not the best combo with pepper soup but it has it’s moments.

For a mind blowing experience, try yam cooked in pepper soup but served separate from the soup with palm oil. Yum!

Ogbono Soup

Suppose you are visiting the south-south region of Nigeria. In that case, you should try the Ogbono soup or Egbene fulou as the Ijaws call it.

There’s a particular spice used to flavour this soup in the south, and it gives a delightful aroma to the soup one you can smell from the door!

When garnished with stockfish and dried catfish, Ogbono soup is quite a cuisine.

For the best experience, try Ogbono soup with Yellow garri. alternatively, you it can be served with fufu.

Fisherman Soup

If you love seafood, then you’d love to give this dish a try. Garnished with fresh fish, prawns, oyster, periwinkles and whatever the sea can offer really. It’s a dish common to the riverine communities along the Atlantic Ocean; Nembe, Kalabari and Okrika hence the name fisherman’s soup.

Best served with Pounded yam or alternative poundo yam.

People love Nigerians for many reasons, our jollof is just one of them

Ofensala

This dish is native to South-Eastern region but also common in Rivers state. You don’t even want so much of swallow with this, because the soup in itself is quite filling.

For a wild experience, try it with pounded yam.

Sea Food Okra

Sea food okra hits different when served with yellow garri. In the North, Okro is often served with tuwo shinkafa/ rice tuwo.

Affang Soup

This delicacy is native to the people of Akwa Ibom and Crossriver but has been largely adopted by many tribes.

Banga Soup

You know you’re home in delta and Bayelsa, when you’ve had Banga soup and starch. It’s always fun watching people eat the starch swallow for the first time. It’s actually starch extracted from cassava and cooked in palm oil. Visitors often have a real struggle cutting through the starch. As a child, I’d often fight with my plate. The thrill comes from mastery of the art of cutting through that fine yellow.

It feels light and smooth to swallow, but it’s super filling. Resist the urge to get that extra plate.

Banga soup is best served with starch, but can also be paired with fufu, garri, semo, pounded yam or onunu.

Onunu is a swallow made from pounded ripe plantain and a bit of yam for added texture.

Ewedu

The pride of the west. There’s no Yoruba party without Amala and Ewedu. The colour can be discouraging but don’t be scared, it’s just dried yam made into a powder.

I remember a time when I felt grossed out by the color, Then I moved to Lagos and eventually tried it. It was cool. It brings a certain comfort on sick days when you lack appetite.

There’s only one swallow for Ewedu soup and that’s Amala. Anything else, is a crime.

Native Soup

This dish is popular in Rivers state and Bayelsa. Bear in mind that different tribes have different native soups so if you randomly ask for native soup, you might not get this exact dish except you’re speaking to someone from Rivers or Bayelsa state.

This dish is super tasty and very tempting, if you’re not careful, you might be taking more cabs than you planned.

Edikainekong

It’s a mouthful of words and deliciousness.

This dish is quite popular across regions. Wait till someone from Cross Rivers state or Akwa Ibom prepares it.

Like afang, it’s made with delicious selection of vegetable offering you a good dose of fiber and vitamins.

You can find most of this dish in just about any standard restaurant. But if you are dining with a Nigerian, try asking about the soups peculiar to their tribe and see them light up with excitement.

Anyone can learn to make any dish, but in an average Nigerian home, we strongly rely on our ancestors when it comes to cooking.

Kidding.

Okay, that’s a common joke we make about how Nigerians know when to stop adding salt to a meal.

The basis of that joke is that our recipes aren’t written.

You know how Americans take pride in a family recipe – a handwritten note with secret ingredients, specific measurements and portions that get handed from one generation to another; well, here, these secrets are passed from mother to child by observation.

More so, we cook in large volume at a time, as our meals are made to serve an unspecific number of guest for an unspecified number of days. You can’t tell when a guest may stop by the house.

You can almost guess a person’s origin by their favourite soup and accompanying swallow. Try it.

There are so many more soups to try in Nigeria. There’s egusi, bitter leaf soup, efor riro, and a lot more. Let me know what other Nigerian meals you’d love to try when you visit.

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