African breadfruit soup (Ukwa soup) is made with the excess cooking liquid or broth drained off when your breadfruit is cooked and ready. It is a special delicacy in Igboland of eastern Nigeria. This liquid has all the rich and delicate flavours of ukwa, the aroma is simply wonderful and it is very nutritious.

I love this soup so much that I decided to make a separate post on it. Normally, it is drunk along with the simple breadfruit porridge but there are people who don’t like it or who get bloated stomachs from drinking it so they discard it. It is such a waste of nutrients, flavours and a wholesome soup.

The procedures given here are just guides, you can mix and match ingredients to your heart’s content. It is an excellent meal full of nutrients for weight watchers who need something light at night. Eat the breadfruit for lunch and drink breadfruit soup for dinner.

For more information on breadfruit (ukwa) and how to buy the good type, see my posts on Breadfruit porridge (ukwa porridge) and Breadfruit pottage (Ukwa etelu ete).

Possible add-ins to Breadfruit soup

Scent leaf (nchu anwu)
Bits of dry fish
Sweet corn
parsley
Plain cooked ukwa

Sweet corn adds texture to the soup.

To prepare Breadfruit soup (Ukwa soup)

A
Breadfruit broth (cooking liquid)
Sweet corn
parsley
salt

B
Breadfuit broth
bits of dry fish
scent leaf
salt

C
Breadfruit broth
plain ukwa
salt

Cook Ukwa as directed in Breadfruit (Ukwa) porridge or Breadfruit pottage (ukwa etelu ete).

A

Pour the strained breadfruit broth in a pot add sweetcorn and parsley.
Place over medium heat and warm through.
Take off the heat.

B

Pour the strained breadfruit broth into a pot, add a little water
Add dry fish, scent leaf and salt.
Place over medium heat. Cook till fish has softened.
Take off the heat.

C

Place the strained breadfruit broth into a pot over medium heat.
Add some cooked breadfruit (ukwa) and salt.
The cooking water has to be more than the cooked ukwa, warm through and serve.

Feel free to try as many combinations as you can to find the ones you like most. Let us know your favourite in the comments below.

Notes

If you get a bloated tummy from breadfruit cooking liquid, don’t throw it out, when cooking your breadfruit, just be careful when adding water so that you will have little or no liquid remaining when it is soft. This way, all the flavours and nutrients remain in your finished dish.

You will also enjoy my African breadfruit porridge (Ukwa porridge), African breadfruit pottage (Ukwa etelu ete), Adalu (Beans and corn Porridge) and Plantain porridge.