Nigeria | Soup

Edikang Ikong

Name: Edikang Ikong
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 900 g assorted meat, beef, goat, tripe, or ponmo; 200 g stockfish or dried fish, soaked; 5 cups ugu fluted pumpkin leaves, sliced; 4 cups waterleaf, chopped; ½ cup red palm oil; 3 tbsp ground crayfish; 1 cup periwinkles; 1 tsp ground pepper; salt, to taste

Efik-Ibibio vegetable soup loaded with ugu, waterleaf, palm oil, meat, stockfish, crayfish, and periwinkles.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

120 min

Serves

Level

medium

Start cooking Explore Nigeria recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Soup

Protein

900 g assorted meat, beef, goat, tripe, or ponmo 200 g stockfish or dried fish, soaked

Greens

5 cups ugu fluted pumpkin leaves, sliced 4 cups waterleaf, chopped

Soup

½ cup red palm oil

Seasoning

3 tbsp ground crayfish

Seafood

1 cup periwinkles (optional)

Heat

1 tsp ground pepper

Pantry

salt, to taste

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Blender

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Nigeria

4 steps 45 min prep 75 min cook (check method) 120 min total medium

Cook the protein

Cook assorted meat and stockfish until tender with a small amount of stock left.

protein stock 45:00

Add waterleaf

Stir in waterleaf and cook until it wilts and releases liquid.

waterleaf 10:00

Season the soup

Add palm oil, crayfish, pepper, periwinkles if using, and salt. Simmer until the oil blends in.

season 15:00

Finish with ugu

Add ugu leaves and cook briefly until tender and bright. Serve hot.

ugu finish 07:00

Some versions use spinach outside Nigeria, but fluted pumpkin leaves and waterleaf are the classic combination.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for celebrations, Sunday lunch, and hearty swallow meals.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 120 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Garri, fufu, pounded yam, or semolina.

Regional lane

South-South and Delta table. Riverine soups, palm nut richness, seafood, afang, edikang ikong, and deeply seasoned broths.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Overcooking the greens until the color and texture collapse.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
Greens should be cooked through but still look alive and glossy.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

palm oil, crayfish, iru or ogiri, scotch bonnet, melon seed

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Edikang Ikong recipe from Nigeria — Edikang Ikong finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Edikang Ikong

Garri, fufu, pounded yam, or semolina.

Best route from here

South-South and Delta table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

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