How To Cook Editan Soup With Waterleaf

How To Cook Editan Soup With Waterleaf

Editan soup is a kind of soup from Akwa Ibom/Cross River State of Nigeria. There is a way this food is cooked ,somebody will mistake it for afang soup. Editan soup is for the Kings and Queens of this world so if you belong here then you need to try it out. I call it the royal soup, this is not a soup to joke with, editan soup will make you eat well if you dont have appetite for food, eat editan soup The first time i ate this soup ..jeez, i made up my mind never to eat it again not until my colleague in office brought a home made Editan soup and when i ate it i knew i have i just signed a contract with editan soup. I came to realise that the reason for the taste i had from my first time of eating was the method of preparation. Editan soup needs a lot of patience and time to get it done. Editan leaves is so bitter as bitterleaf you need to wash the bitterness off.
The main ingerdient of editan soup is editan leaf which is known as lastanthere africana which belongs to thefamily of icancinaceae which is a perennial glabrous shrub food in the tropical rain forest. Editan soup is medicinal that's why i like eating it. It is said to be bacteriostatic, fungicidal, antidiabetic and anti plasmoda(march, 2016 ww.iosrjournals.org).

Editan soup can be cooked with waterleaf or okro but i prefer the waterleaf type. There are different species of editan some are wildly bitter while others are mildly bitter so if you go to the market ask for afia editan(white editan leaf) it is said to be less bitter this is applicable to bitterleaf we have the white and local bitter leaves.


Ingredients
One bunch of editan
2 bunches of water leaves
1 kg of meat (cow or goat)
A good number of dry fishes
A medium size stockfish
Shelled periwinkle(a cup)
A cup of ground crayfish
25cl palm oil
Pepper as desired
Seasoning(knorr cube 2or maggi cube 4)
Azuza optional
Salt to taste
A small size onion
Kpomo optional

Preparation
Pick the editan leaves and cut them into smaller strands but you can buy the ones that has already been cut in the market. Put them into the mortar and pound just a little. Turn into a big bowl and wash the bitter taste out but not completely because a little bitter taste in a soup always makes the soup taste great. Scrub the editan leaves with your palm and wash the drawing green colour out with hot water do it over and over until its slimy nature ceases



Wash the water leaves very well and cut them into smaller sizes. You can use salt to wash it a little more by scrubbing it so as to reduce the water content and sliming nature of some. Waterleaf tends to increase its moisture content during raining season and if you don't reduce the water it can change the taste of your soup with its sour taste.


Cut the periwinkle and wash very well with salt then soak in hot water

Wash the dry fish with salt and hot water then cut them into smaller sizes. Do the same with stockfish head


Cooking

Wash the meat very well into a big pot and add seasoning, pepper, onions and salt. Cook for 10minutes
Add enough water that will take for the soup and allow to boil, add the cut waterleaf, washed stockfish, crayfish, dry fish, periwinkle, pepper, seasoning, salt and palm oil and allow to simmer for 10minutes
Stir and add the editan leaves and cut azuza if you are using it and allow to simmer for 10minutes
Stir and taste to know if there is anything you need to add
Then bring down the pot.


You can get editan leaf in any country you are staying, just walk down to any of the African shops you will find it there wether dried or fresh it still does the same work.

otoh, (water yam porridge)

otoh, water yam porridge

Otoh (Water yam Porriage)

Otoh is a type of food delicacy, from Akwa/Cross River States. Other regions have this kind of food like the Yorubas they call it ikokori. If you have been wanting to eat ekpang nkukwo but the processes involved like the time of preparation put you off then you need not worry because you can make do with otoh which is a reversed version of ekpang. The difference is that while ekpang is wearing cloth, otoh is hanging its own. 

The main ingredient in this food is water yam. I like to eat this food often for so many reasons one of which is its health benefits, of course water yam which is the main ingredient contains antioxidants and vitamin c which is good for both the suppression of sugar and anti aging processes. So i will say if you want to remain ever young eat otoh. Diabetic patients should eat this food because its high fiber content.

INGREDIENTS

Water yam ( a medium size)

Pumpkin leaf ugu (a few sticks)

Scent leaf (a handful)

Pepper (a spoonful ground )

Periwinkle (a cup,shelled ones)

Palm oil 30cl

Crayfish (ground crayfish 10 table spoon)

Dry fish (a good number)

Seasoning (knorr or maggi cubes)

Salt as desired

Onions, medium size

  

PREPAPATION

Pour hot water on the dry fish and wash with salt after sometime, set aside

fishes(selected)

Cut the tall part of the periwinkle off with a sharp object but you can buy the already cut ones from the market wash with salt for about 4 to 5 times and soak them in hot water or pour them in a small pot and cook for 5 minutes and set aside

washed periwinkles

Pick the ugu and the scent leaves, wash them in a bowl of water for about 3 to 4 times or till the water becomes clean with no sand on the down side of the bowl, then slice them to smaller sizes and set aside

sljced ugu/scent leaves

If you are adding meat wash into a pot, add salt, pepper, seasoning, onions and cook till soft then you cut them to your desired sizes i like them tiny, and set aside 

Peel the water yam and wash in a bowl of water two to three times to ensure its clean enough then cut to smaller sizes into a bowl and grate with a grater

grated water yam

After getting everything reading, it is time to do the real thing, cook it!

COOKING

Put the stove/gas on 

Place a sizable pot of water on it, the water should be enough to contain the food but all the same still set some hot water aside in case you will need it at the course of the cooking.

When the water is boiled, pour the washed dry fish into it, the periwinkle, ground crayfish, pepper, salt, seasoning and palm oil cover the pot and allow to boil for 10 minutes. 

Cut the water yam into the pot in smaller balls. Actually this is where the real work is as it takes much time to get it done allow to simmer for 30mins

Stir the content, pour in your already cook meat if you are using it then the ugu and scent leaves and alow to boil for 5 minutes. Note, you don't have to over cook the leaves because of the vitamins so as not to kill them. 

Stir the food and bring the pot down, otoh food is ready.

Eat it when you know you are not going out immediately so you can have the time to reminisce on the food, you will discover the more you eat the more you will want to eat again but hey! Watch it.

This food needs a lot of crayfish and fish so as to get a delicious meal.

otoh food is ready

unripe plantain porridge cooked with groundnut oil and goat meat

                    

porridge plantain with goat meat and groundnut oil

                    

Plantain is from the banana family. One thing I like about it, is that you can do so many things with it ranging from, frying for chips, roasting, boiling, processing into flour etc.

I like it which ever way it is prepared but the one I like most is the porridge type, not just any one but the one that is prepared with groundnut oil (ubobok ukom).Unripe plantain porridge with goat meat,groundnut oil is a delicacy of the people of Akwa Ibom/Cross River States, if this food is absent from any ceremony in Akwa Ibom State then that ceremony is not complete. I got to know about the food when I went for a traditional marriage, almost all the people around me requested for it so i decided to do same although I didn't like the face because it wasn't appealing to me but to find out the reason for the rush I had to eat the food , I must tell you, I wasn't disappointed at all, it tasted so nice that I didn't waste time when I got home I started making findings on how to cook the meal, the following week I was able to set it on the table. Need I say, it was amazing. Although most people cook this food with cow leg, I decided to cook mine with goat meat. This is different from the palm oil recipe, here, groundnut oil is used but it has to be kings ground nut oil or something similar if not you might not get the real taste.

There is always a reason behind any food I eat. Here is one of the reasons I eat plantain porridge. Plantain which is the main ingredient contains fiber and so many nutrients such as Vitamin A and C The fiber is good for bowel movement and the nutrients build up the body. It is a good meal for diabetic patients.

INGREDIENTS

Unripe plantain ( 5 pieces)

Meat (goat meat)

Scent leaf (as desired)

Crayfish( 5 table spoon of ground one)

Onions ( a sizable one)

Pepper as desired

Groundnut oil 25cl

Periwinkle, shelled (a cup)

Seasoning (maggi or knorr, 2 cubes)

Salt to taste

Dry fish (optional)

PREPARATION

Wash the goat meat into a pot, add seasoning, salt, pepper, onions, cook for 10 minutes and set aside.

Cooked goat meat with stock

.

Wash the plantain with water in a bowl, peel the back and cut three of them into three or four pieces, cut the remaining two into smaller cubes and set aside

sliced plantain 

Cut the tail of the periwinkle with sharp objects and wash very well with salt and water then put it in hot water for a while or boil in a smaller pot for five minutes do not add anything, this is done so as to remove some white things which is often referred to as worms.

Washed periwinkle

Grind the pepper, crayfish , dice the onions and set aside

If  you are using fish, washed very well with hot water and salt shred them to your desired sizes

Washed dry fish

Wash the scent leaves in a bowl of water three to four times, slice into smaller sizes and set aside

 Scent leaves

COOKING

Put on the fire

Place a pot of water on it enough to carry the food. 

When the water is boiled pour in the plantain, add the dry fish if you are using it, periwinkle, crayfish, pepper, onions, seasoning, salt and allow to cook for 30 minutes,

Stir the content add the already cooked goat meat and groundnut oil, allow to simmer for 10 minutes

Add scent leaves do not stir allow to simmer for 5 minutes 

Stir and then bring down the pot. Food is ready

porridge plantain with goat meat and groundnut oil is ready

Unripe plantain porridge cooked with goat meat and groundnut is best served with a glass of water Remember not to over eat as this food has a way of saying keep eating me. Please, stay with me on this blog as more recipes are on the way. i promise to give you the best, i mean only the best on this blog.