Banga soup as it’s called is a product of the residue gotten from the production of Palm oil. The soup is of great importance to the Igbos of Nigeria and has lots of nutrients and can be consumed both as a stew with white rice or as soup with any kind of staple food.
I first ate what is officially called Banga Soup in Iperu-Remo of Ogun State in 2016, though I have eaten it with roasted yam in my native land but that was the first time I noticed its multi-purpose nature.
Banga can go with any meat or fish as a top-up, but for me, I would prefer fish because of the spectacular taste it gives to the soup and to save me from prolonged chewing of meat (Check my next article about Fish vs Meat for more details).
Banga is not only a native recipe of the Igbos alone, however, you can find a similar recipe among the Tivs of Nigeria as well, unpopular though, it is prepared almost the same way as the Igbos but without the dressing of fish or meat. For them, they prefer it to be sticky or semi-sticky and would eat it with either boiled or roasted yam. When speaking to an Igbo friend, she said they also consumed it with yam in their place. It is very possible because of the vitality and the strong bond that exists between yam and oil since oil is a byproduct of the palm tree where banga and its soup are also harnessed.
Though not as common as Egusi and Beni seed recipes, Banga soup, when consumed with white rice, is what you can never forget talking about or when consumed with roasted or boiled yam, in fact, I termed it “As useful as the Palm”.
Author: Teryila Denis