Ingredients
Palm base
- 1 kgfresh palm fruit, or 800 g tinned palm nut concentrate
- water, for boiling and pounding
Protein
- 500 gsmoked fish, flaked and boned
- 300 gfresh fish or beef
- 2 tbspcrayfish, ground
Country spices
- 1 tbspnjangsa, ground
- 1 tspcountry onion, ground
- 1 tbspbasil, ground, or scent leaf
- 1 bunchfresh basil or njansang leaf
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 1onion
- 1chilli
Seasoning
- 1stock cube
- salt
- 1 tspground white pepper
To serve
- kwacoco, grated cocoyam in leaves
- boiled plantain or rice
Directions
- Pound the boiled fruit in a mortar to loosen the orange flesh from the hard kernels, without cracking the kernels themselves. Pound to loosen, not to crush. Add hot water, work the pulp with your hands, then strain it through a sieve, pressing hard.
- Discard the fibres and the kernels and keep the thick orange liquid, which is the whole base of the soup. Pour the palm extract into a pot and bring it to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
- Simmer it uncovered so it reduces and thickens. Palm soup should coat a spoon rather than run off it. Skim the excess oil from the surface as it rises, keeping some but not all of it.
- Take some of the oil off. Meanwhile pour boiling water over the smoked fish, let it stand 10 minutes, then flake it and pick out every bone. Pick the bones out carefully now, because smoked fish bones are fine and sharp and impossible to find in the finished soup.
- Blend the onion, garlic and chilli to a paste and stir it into the simmering base. Add the njangsa, country onion and ground crayfish. Add the smoked fish and the fresh fish or beef and simmer 25 minutes.
- Add the stock cube, salt and white pepper and taste. Tear the fresh basil in at the last 5 minutes only. Add the fresh leaf right at the end. The finished soup should be thick, deep orange, and glossy with a little palm oil on the surface.
- Serve with kwacoco, grated cocoyam steamed in banana leaves, which is the traditional pairing on the Southwest coast.
Technique
- Tinned palm nut concentrate is sold in African shops and is what most people use even at home.
- Njangsa, country onion and country pepper are sold ground in the same shops.
- It thickens overnight and is loosened with hot water when reheated.
Substitutions
- Tinned palm nut concentrate for fresh palm fruit.
- Smoked mackerel or smoked haddock in place of African smoked fish.
Variations
- Made with beef and cow skin as well as fish.
- Banga soup, the Nigerian Delta version.
- With prawns and periwinkles, which is coastal.
History
A Southwest Cameroonian dish of the Bakweri and Bayangi coast, pressed from oil palm fruit that grows across the Mount Cameroon slopes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mbanga soup?
Mbanga soup is a soup & stew from Cameroon: palm-fruit soup with smoked fish and country spices, eaten with kwacoco. A Southwest Cameroonian dish of the Bakweri and Bayangi coast, pressed from oil palm fruit that grows across the Mount Cameroon slopes.
How long does Mbanga soup take to make?
Mbanga soup takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Mbanga soup?
Yes, within limits. Tinned palm nut concentrate for fresh palm fruit. Smoked mackerel or smoked haddock in place of African smoked fish.
What is the most important thing to get right in Mbanga soup?
Discard the fibres and the kernels and keep the thick orange liquid, which is the whole base of the soup. Pour the palm extract into a pot and bring it to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
