Nigerian Vegetable Soup

I just harvested the first set of snails from my snail farm, so I decided to give my Renaissance man a treat. Fresh Nigerian vegetable soup with snails. He licked his fingers in delight.

This vegetable soup is not edikang ikong, though they share almost the same ingredients, the timing of the addition of the leafy vegetables, set them worlds apart. While edikang ikong is a delectable pot of ‘pureed’ vegetable in a class of its own, this vegetable soup is crisp and fresh with a very vibrant colour.

Nigerian vegetable soup is quick and easy to cook, a very versatile soup which can be used for swallow, eaten with rice, yam, plantains, even potatoes.

To prepare Nigerian vegetable soup

meat
stockfish
dry fish
snails
1/2 cup palm oil
1/2 medium onions
5 scotch bonnet (fresh pepper)
1 cup isam (periwinkle)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
3 seasoning cubes
salt
370g ugu 
520g waterleaf

Wash meat and stockfish, put in a pot with some water to just cover the meat, season with salt and seasoning cube, boil till a fork can pass through.

Soak dry fish in boiling hot water for 2 minutes, drain and rinse well with cold water. Add to the boiling meat and cook till meat is tender. The stock should be about 2 to 3 cups if it is more take out some and preserve.

Clean snail, season with little salt and boil till a fork can barely pass through. Set aside (Snail should not be cooked till it is soft and floppy, it should still have a discernible crunch).

To the cooked meat with 2 or 3 cups of stock, add palm oil, onions and pepper, cook for 5 minutes.

Add, periwinkle, 1/2 cup of crayfish and seasoning cubes. Stir and taste, add salt.

Cook for 10 minutes until palm oil loses its raw taste.

Add waterleaf, ugu, and cooked snails, stir and cover, cook for 3 minutes.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of crayfish and cook till vegetables have softened but is not mushy. Take off the heat and serve.

Just like most vegetable soups in Nigerian cuisine, e.g Efo riro, Edikang ikong, Afang etc, they can be eaten with a variety of other dishes.

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