Edikang Ikong — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A nutritious and protein-rich Nigerian vegetable soup from the Efik people of Cross River State, loaded with two types of leafy greens, assorted meats, and seafood.

Ingredients

3 cups pumpkin leaves (ugwu), shredded
2 cups water leaves, shredded
500g beef, cubed
200g dried shrimp
200g periwinkle or snails
1/2 cup palm oil
3 tbsp ground crayfish
2 scotch bonnet peppers
1 medium onion, diced
2 seasoning cubes
Salt to taste
200g stockfish, soaked

Instructions

1 Season and boil the beef with onion and seasoning cubes for 40 minutes until tender, then add the soaked stockfish and dried shrimp to the pot.
2 Add palm oil to the pot and stir in the ground crayfish and blended scotch bonnet peppers, allowing the mixture to cook together for 10 minutes.
3 Add the shredded water leaves first since they cook down significantly, stirring and simmering for about 5 minutes until wilted.
4 Fold in the shredded pumpkin leaves, add periwinkle or snails, and simmer for another 5 minutes, being careful not to overcook the vegetables, then serve hot with eba or pounded yam.

Did You Know?

Edikang Ikong is sometimes called the expensive soup because of its generous use of premium leafy vegetables and proteins, and it is traditionally served at important celebrations in Calabar.