Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Mbanga Soup (Palm Nut Soup)

Mbanga Soup (Palm Nut Soup) is a traditional Cameroonian recipe for the local version of palm nut soup, which is common to the whole of West Africa and made from a palm oil base extracted from palm nuts in which fish and hot chillies are cooked; the stew being thickened with dried prawns. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cameroonian version of: Palm Nut Soup (Mbanga Soup).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

30 minutes

Total Time:

50 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Cameroon Recipes



This is the Cameroonian version of the ubiquitous West African palm nut soup.

Ingredients:

100 fresh palm nuts (or canned palm nut pulp [this is also called palm soup base, sauce graine, noix de palme, or cream of palm fruit])
250g fresh fish, cleaned and cut into pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 beef bouillon cube (with a pinch of cumin and coriander) or 1 Maggi cube
2 hot chilli peppers
450g smoked or dried fish (eg stockfish) with skin and bones removed and rinsed under water.
2 tbsp dried prawns, ground to a powder
salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

First prepare the palm nuts as follows: Bring 750ml water to a boil in a large saucepan then add the palm nuts. Cover and cook the palm nuts for a few minutes, until the skins begin to split and come off. Drain the water from the pan then use a pestle and mortar (or a potato masher) to crush the palm.

Combine this pulp with 1.5l of cold water and stir. Allow to sit for a few minutes then squeeze the palm nuts with your

Press the remaining pulp through a sieve into a bowl.

Add 900ml of water to a pot and bring to a boil before adding the fresh fish, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, bouillon cube, and chillies. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the palm nut pulp and continue to simmer, uncovered, with occasional stirring for 10 minutes. Add the smoked or dried fish at this stage along with the ground prawns. Simmer for a further ten minutes, or until the soup has thickened. Adjust the seasoning and serve over boiled rice, yams, plantains or with FuFu.