AFANG SOUP; OBODO OYIBO STYLE...

What can i say? Afang soup is the best soup in the world, don't argue! Ok, at least i think mine is. I was out of the country for a bit but was still able to get all my ingredients and substitute ingredients to knock out a decent pot of afang, only thing is missed here was my darling mfi (periwinkle) still in the shell... Sigh!

Ok, here goes;
Assorted meat
Dried fish
Stock fish
Snails
Afang (okazi)
Spinach - fresh or a bag of chopped frozen one (waterleaf)
Palm oil
Onions
Crayfish
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning cubes

Wash your meat and stock fish (especially) thoroughly, spice your meat and stock fish together with salt, pepper and chopped onions and cook till tender.

Add your snail, dried fish and crayfish and palm oil, allow to cook for another 10 minutes till it comes together and looks like a thick broth.

While the meat is cooking, use the dry mill part of your blender and blend your already sliced afang and set aside. This is a bit tedious especially if your cooking a large quantity because you have to do it in little batches but relatively easier and faster if your okazi has been dried properly (like mine was), if not you can add a bit of crayfish to the mill to help absorb some of the moisture from the okazi and help the blending along. Or, you can just pound it in a mortar the good ol' way our mothers did.

If you're using chopped, frozen spinach like i did instead of water leaf, you should have it defrosted and ready to go into the pot at this point.

If you are using water leaf, the leaves should be cut off the stem and the flowers and seeds removed. wash thoroughly and then cut as finely as u can. Add it to a bowl and sprinkle some salt in it (to help it get rid of most of its excess water), then proceed to wash it as you would a pair of jeans.

Wash and rinse with the help of a strainer until the water is no longer frothy. Not washing the water leaf properly is responsible for some peoples slimy afang. Add to the meaty broth and taste for seasoning.

Note that i haven't added any extra water to my soup, that's because the water leaf/spinach will still water down th soup and if you have too much water in you pot, you'll be left with a watery mess.

 Allow the soup to cook for no more than five minutes, we don't want our water leaf/afang over cooking and turning brown. 5 minutes is all the time it needs to render all of its liquid content. Add your afang to the pot, stir properly and let it cook on low heat for just another minute.

Take off the heat and serve your afang, glorious afang!