"Recipe of the Day, Week No. 31: (Afang or Wild Spinach Soup)"

You got the balls is a perfect reflection of what's seen above this post. This picture shows my recipe made of a Nigerian Afang Soup and Garri balls. This special recipe is popularly served at big events like weddings, burials, traditional marriages, etc. It's the leaf we are after, as different tribes have their own ways of preparing the meal.

It's not prepared or called the same in Lagos and other states. They may have their own ways of calling and preparing it in as much as the leaf in concern is used. Let's talk about this food and how I prepared it.

The name may sound weird to you as it's not a common name in the general language. Its leaf is botanically known as Gnetum Africanum. It is called Wild Spanish in English and is a dark green leaf planted through staking on tall sticks so it grows and sprouts. It is one food I cherish and enjoy the most compared to other soup prepared locally in my country.

This soup may not be considered a nutrient-rich food compared to vegetable soup, but it's the best. I don't know why this food is mostly used as a professional food at events in Nigeria. I must do research on this because all the events I've attended, I've seen no varieties other than this particular type of food.

Nutritionally, this food is made up of the six classes of food.

The leaf is very nutritional and can be classified as minerals and vitamins as it is classified as a vegetable in spinach form. This leaf is prepared by mixing leaves and ingredients to make the soup. It is usually combined with water leaf 🌿 and prepared with ingredients containing proteins. Water and oil are essential ingredients used to enhance the preparation of this food. If you want to make a snack, there are essential ingredients you use to make the flour tasty, same with food. Now, let me tell you the Nigerian Market Survey of my foodstuffs.

Virtually everything in Nigeria is expensive to the point they farmers are the ones really cultivating and eating nature's produce. They improvise with everything natural for sustenance. Now take a look at a few strands or sticks of wild spinach. Few of its stick is roughly #300 naira which is to say that if you want to cook a family pot of soup, you'll need to get it at an expensive rate compared to plucking the leaves from the yard as I did. So I didn't get the leaves from the market but from my yard which tends to save cost.

Cooking will definitely help you appreciate nature and agriculture to the full except money is no problem for you in this biting economy. Now, let's take a look at the inclusive foodstuffs I bought and their prices in the Nigerian Market.

I had the major commodities and didn't need to buy them, only a few. Want to see how I spent #4500 naira in preparing soup of this nature, this special recipe of mine? I'll give the descriptions and steps.

Wild Spinach
Water leaf
Crayfish
Dry fish
Goat meat
Seasoning	Condiments

Not everyone has the sand methods or hands in cooking this meal. People vary in terms of taste of the food, how leaves should be cut and grounded, and what comes first in the pot.

• Plucking the leaves from its stem is what I did first, and then I washed the wild spinach since it was plucked from the yard. I then dried the leaves using a plastic bag by sprinkling so the water could drain out. Some people take pleasure in drying the leaves under the sun. This is what my mom dislikes, as she says it kills the nutrients on the leaves. To me, it even adds chorophyll 😂 but doesn't make the leaves fresh again since it's chopped from the stalk it grew.

• After ensuring my wild spinach is ready, I took to slicing with a knife and grounding it using a mortar and pestle in the absence of a grinding machine. This is how this Nigerian dish is prepared to sweetness. The taste is drawn from the local preparation of the soup.

• I then washed my water leaf and sliced it to pieces, placing onions with it as I was taught that way.

• Before doing all these, my meat and fish were steamed on fire while I did the needful. I seasoned my meat and fish on a different pot before using the main pot to cook. I started by putting a jug of water in a big pot to cook the stockfish to soften it, as it's naturally hard. I added salt as a catalyst. When it was soft, I added my ground crayfish, periwinkle, goat meat, dry fish, and other seasonings to taste. I added this first to bring out the flavour of the food before adding my sliced water leaf into the pot.

• I added oil to cover the pot of fish and meats before adding the water leaf. The job of the water leaf was to produce enough water for the cooking. So I didn't have to add much water into the pot again as the leaf did the job. I then allowed it to settle for 10 minutes before mixing it and allowing it to steam before adding my ground Afang or wild spinach as the last ingredient.

I allowed it to circulate and steam after mixing for 8 minutes, and then my soup was done. It's best served hot with Garri balls.

Bon Appetit. This is one of my city's favourite soup. You can use the leaf in preparing your style. Thanks for going through my food tutorials.

	picture of my food and I

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Cc,
@mvchacin