Hello Tribe. This feels like the first proper new recipe since the site launched. I hope you are having a great time using the new blog. Thank you for all the kind comments you have written on the blog and on social media. I truly appreciate the support, and for those who haven’t said anything, #sideeye. Hahahahahahahahaha. Don’t mind me. We are still working out the kinks, and changing things every day. So, if you notice something isn’t working correctly, please just let me know using the contact form. For example, a reader sent me a message yesterday saying some pages aren’t loading well and she keeps getting the error message protected content when she clicks on pictures. Let me explain what that means. You will no longer be able to right click on any pictures inside recipe posts. This is how copyright violators were stealing pictures from the old site and using it for posters, restaurant menus, social media and even on websites. If you do so, you would get an error message saying protected content. This only applies for posts with recipes, but when a picture represents a category e.g. on Recipeadia or Ingredientspaedia or on the homepage, you will be able to click or right click, because that action opens up a page, not the picture itself. I have been blogging since 2013 and it is exhausting and time consuming to chase picture thieves, with this new site, I had to put in strong deterrents, to protect my intellectual property. If you notice anymore problems, please don’t hesitate to contact me. The site is being tweaked almost on a daily basis. If you also want to receive email notifications of new posts, Subscribe to the blog my filling in your details in the subscribe box. That way, you will never miss a post.
Now that I am done with that public service announcement, lol, let’s talk about this recipe – Abak Etighi. Abak is the Efik terminology for the palm fruit, popularly known as Banga. Etighi serves for Okro, so in English, this dish would be called Okro Banga, I just kinda like the Efik term. hehehehehehe. Why the Kitchen Sink tag? Well, I literally threw in everything, but the kitchen sink into this dish. The liquid base of Okro Peppersoup is the peppersoup broth, the base of Ogbono Redefined is of course ogbono before you add the Okro. Think of the base of this soup as Banga with a multi dimensional flavour profile.
A little history is needed here. A few weeks ago, I put up a post on Instagram asking for recommendations of the best brand of Basmati rice to cook Jollof with, because I had tried a brand previously and the results would have been disastrous, if not for experience. The feedback from you guys was overwhelming. OMG, almost 300 comments. Not just that, Direct messages and even emails. I thought wow, thanks guys. Caterers from all over were leaving comments too, that was the most surprising, because you wouldn’t expect them to right. They were giving out their secrets, sending me pictures of brands to buy, telling me tips that they use for their business. I was so touched and grateful, Big Oladunni told me I should be proud of myself, because it meant, I have a lot of goodwill with people. One of the caterers was Nike of Classic Golden Pot in Abuja. Check out her page on Instagram @classicgoldenpot. Jeez, Nike is an impressive cook, my goodness, you will just keep scrolling though her page, and smacking your lips. She told me she was coming to the UK in October and she couldn’t wait to taste my Surf and Turf Okro. Such a lovely person, she emailed me days ahead asking what I would like from Abuja. I wrote back with a long list of things, and she brought them. I have never met her before mind you. I had to return the favour my cooking her my signature Okro soup. As luck would have it, I made Banga soup for a family that afternoon and I had leftover palm fruit extract, in addition to lots of other ingredients in such tiny amounts, it would have been silly to store them, so I decided to throw them all into this soup. The taste was phenomenal, like a party in your mouth. Tastes you would necessarily not associate with Banga soup, so refreshingly different. I loved it, she loved it. Her feedback was – Amazeballs!!!!!! Yaaaaay. This soup has everything you can think of, which may make it expensive to prepare, if you don’t already have the ingredients at home, but you can make do with what is available. It will still taste incredible, I promise you. Let’s cook
- Banga - palm fruit extract
- Beef Stock
- Uyayak - aidan fruit
- Banga Spices
- Chopped Okro
- Fresh pepper - you can also use dry pepper
- Mixed Fresh Seafood - optionalAssorted Meats
- Smoked fish
- Stockfish
- Iru - fermented locust beans
- Ground crayfish
- Atama or Obeletientien - dried native aromatic herbs
- Uziza leaves - native spicy hot plant
- Salt
- Seasoning cubes - optional
- I am using canned palm fruit extract, but you can also use it fresh. In a pot, add the palm fruit extract, beef stock, and enough water to cook the quantity of okro that you have. Add the uyayak and a cooking spoonful worth of powdered banga spices to the pot.
- While your palm fruit and stock is boiling, using a food processor, roughly chop the okro and fresh pepper. I am using ata rodo here. I also added the leftover onions that I had. I wasn't going to throw it away or store it. See why it is the kitchen sink okro soup? Lol.
- While your banga stock is boiling, add the fresh seafood if you are using it to the pot and cook them till pink. Take them out of the pot as soon as they have cooked and set aside.
- Add your boiled assorted meats, Iru, softened stockfish, smoked fish and ground crayfish to the pot and give it another 5 minutes to allow the flavours develop. Taste and re-season if necessary.
- By now, your stock should have reduced to an extent. Examine the quantity against how much shopped okro that you have and either decant a little into a bowl, or carry on cooking.
- Add the chopped okro and pepper to the pot and give it a good stir.
- Before the Okro has cooked through, crush dried atama or obeletientien between your palms and add to the pot, followed by chopped uziza leaves. When the chunks of okro have cooked sufficiently to your liking, give it one last taste and adjust if you think you need it. Serve with your choice of soup staples. I recommend Yellow Garri or Pounded Yam
Try this recipe out and don’t forget to leave feedback either by dropping a comment, or using the hashtag #AbakEtighi and tagging @dooneyskitchen on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to follow me on all my social media pages and Subscribe to the blog to get updates of new recipes.
Hi Dunni, thanks for the recipe, am sure my husband will enjoy it (yes, i need to make him want to come home now*wink*). u r my food goddess. Meanwhile, pls i cant subscribe for the recipe ooo, i didnt receive an email for confirmation