River State Native Soup
River state native soup is one of my favorite Nigerian soup, it happens to be my favorite native soup and one of the most popular soup from Niger Delta, Nigeria.
I grew up in River state Nigeria, did both my primary and secondary education in a very popular part of the state.
During this time, I tasted almost every indigenous food and also learned to make quite a number of them. The good thing is that they share similar recipes with the Igbos.
Dating or Married a Rivers Person
So if you are dating an Ikwerre guy or married to a man/woman from River State Nigeria you can go ahead and serve him/her some of our Igbo foods.
Frankly, I can’t give a detailed account of the origin of this soup but what I do know is that it is very popular in River state and it is served in major restaurants and eateries. Although, they avoid some of the expensive ingredients like stockfish, ngolo and shrimps.
For some reason I just like to try new recipes once they appealed to me, I like to ask questions and try them out in my own kitchen, that is perhaps the reason I have learned to make virtually all the Foods Eaten In Nigeria.
Below are the ingredients for making the popular native soup in River state Nigeria, like I always assert; the ingredients would serve about 6×2 people, you can increase or decrease the quantity of each ingredient depending on the number people would be eating your food.
You can make this soup as simple as possible, if you can’t find the ngolo and prawns where you live, you can leave them out. I can’t find the English name for Ngolo, is it clams?
Ingredients For Rivers soup
1KG of meat
10 pieces of stock fish ear (nti okporoko)
1 cups of sliced uziza leaves
2 medium size dry fish
Cocoa yam as thickener (see image)
300ml of palm oil
3 seasoning cubes
2 cups of periwinkles
1 cups of ngolo
1 cup of ground crayfish
Salt and pepper to taste.
two handful of fresh prowns
2 spoons of ofor (alternative thickener)
Preparation
What you find above is a plate containing Ngolo, Periwinkles (isam) and prawns, the exact way they are sold in Nigerian markets. You can purchase them from every major Nigerian market, especially in the states surrounded by water.
The cocoyam should be about 1KG, the ofor serves as an alternative thickener (incase the cocoyam didn’t thicken the soup), in most cases, you wouldn’t use it (the ofor)
Parboil the shrimps, wash and parboil in a small pot, add a half cup of water, 1 seasoning cube and a pinch of salt, allow to boil for up to 5 minutes, remove the head and set aside in a clean plate.
How To Make River State Native Soup
STEP 1
I like to start by parboiling the meat with all the necessary ingredients, most cooks forget that parboiling the meat and obtaining the stock (water left after parboiling) is an important part of the Nigerian cooking process.
I like to parboil the meat with just 2 cubes of maggi, 1 bulb of onions, salt and maybe a sachet of onga classic (a very popular Nigerian spice for soup). My choice of meat is hard to cook, takes about 50-60 minutes before you commence with the rest of the cooking.
Step 2
Use this time to prepare the other ingredients; wash and slice the uziza leaves.
Soak the stockfish and dry fish with boiled water and wash thoroughly to remove sand and center bone. Grind the crayfish and fresh pepper also, you can grind together or grind separately.
Step 3
Add the washed dry fish/stockfish in the boiling meat on the fire, after about 30-50 minutes of cooking just the meat. Once they are soft and the water is almost dried (about 1 cup left) add about 5-7 cups of water, palm oil, and the ground crayfish. This step was visually demonstrated in the video below, so if you like watching better than reading you can scroll down to see the video.
Allow the soup to cook for another ten minutes before adding salt to taste, a cube of maggi. Maggi is a natural food sweetener, used in making almost all the {foods eaten in Nigeria}.
Step 4
Add the washed/cleaned ngolo, stir, add the cocoyam, allow to dissolve in 8-10 minutes, if it is still very watery you can add a spoon of ofor, cook for three minutes before adding the periwinkles, prawn and sliced uziza leaves which is likely the last ingredient while making River state native soup.
Allow to simmer for another five minutes and you just made Nigerian’s most popular native soup.
Rivers State Soup Recipe | Niger Delta Foods and Soup
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Pots
- Spoons
Ingredients
- 1 KG of meat Cow foot
- 10 pieces Stockfish ear nti okporoko
- 2 cups Sliced uziza leaves
- 2 Medium-size dry fish
- Cocoa yam as a thickener see image
- 300ml Palm oil
- 3 cubes of Maggi or knorr
- 2 cups Periwinkles
- 1 cups Ngolo
- 1/2 cup Ground crayfish
- Salt to taste
- 2 handfuls of fresh prawns
- 2 spoons of ofor alternative thickener
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season the prawns with a pinch of salt, a seasoning cube and precook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the heads and set aside on a plate.
- Season the meat with a teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of beef seasoning spice, a seasoning cube and allow to boil for 10 minutes. add water and allow cooking for 45 minutes until it becomes soft. (about 15 minutes with Pressure cooker)
- Grind the crayfish, fresh pepper and slice the uzizia leaves.
- Pour boiled water over the dried fish and stockfish, wash and set aside.
- Once the meat is well cooked, in a cooking pot, add the dried fish, stockfish, add 8 cups of water, ground crayfish, palm oil and allow to boil for 10 minutes. Add a seasoning cube and salt to taste.
- Add the washed/cleaned ngolo, stir, add the cocoyam, allow to dissolve in 8-10 minutes, if it is still very watery you can add a spoon of ofor and allow to simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes. Stir occasionally so it doesn't get burned.
- Add the periwinkles, pre-cooked prawn and sliced uziza leaves.
- Allow simmering for 3-5 minutes and you are done.
- Serve River State native soup with Fufu, Semo, Pounded yam or Eba
Video
Video
The video is that of an earlier version of this soup, it should give you a clue as to how to make river state native soup, I used ofor as the thickener instead of cocoyam; I also omitted the ngolo.
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142 Comments
My native soup is the best and is called Miniwiri okazi,portharcourt soup and comes the 27th of this month December there is an event holding in my community by me called Ikwerre soup you all are invited thanks and happy new month
Can u send me the Ngolo and periwinkle, even if it’s dry blc of my location, Damaturu Yobe state, send to Gaat Hotels Ltd
Hi , ma, please what’s ngolo?
i am a Rivers State man and i just love to cook. i’ve tried some of ur recipes and dey turn out to be just great. thank u so much and i’ll be placing an order for the book this month end too. thank you again.
Please what is the difference between fisherman’s soup and rivers native soup?
Thanks for this. I’ll try the recipe today
in a situation where you don’t have mortar,can you grate the cocoyam and can I use fresh fish to prepare this soup?
Hello
Please i would like to buy your book. I reside at Abuja.
U rock Chidi,I’m a good cook as well but seriously, I appreciate the effort you put in here to help lots of people out there. More grease to your site, God bless you.
U such a darlin! Been hearin about native but don’t know to cook it…God bless u loads
What is ngolo
Wow. Thank you ma. You have really made me a great cook. I will try this recipe this weekend. God bless you.
U really rock! tried it yday and it was wow tho I forgot prawns n used snail for meat…Oga enjoyed d spicy seafood taste…Weldone!
I can’t believe I finally made this soup start to finish and it came out amazing ?. Thanks dearie. Super great job you are doing
Hello Madam! I’m a Rivers guy that loves cooking more than most single ladies. I must say, you’re truly gifted and great in cooking. Thanks in increasing my knowledge in cooking,as well as helping the world in cooking Nigeria dishes. May God increase your greatness and comfort you on every side.
I love this.
I am from a Riverine community in Rivers State. You are doing a very great job here I must say.
A few things to note in Rivers Native Soup.
The soup originated from the riverine communities who are predominantly fishermen. For this reason, meat, stockfish, and dry fish is alien in Native Soup. It’s a plethora of everything FRESH we can find in the river. Therefore Meat, Chicken, Stock fish, dry Crayfish, are not used.
But where you can’t find fresh fish or too expensive, Goat meat can be a substitute.
The original thickener is Cocoyam. You cook and pound it like Pounded-Yam, but you must pound it until it’s elastic. Flatten small balls of it with your palm and fingers. The smaller/flatter it is, the quicker it will dissolve in your soup.
Archi and Ofor as thickeners were a modern introduction mostly by the Ikwere/non riverine people. I believe it’s because of the stress in pounding cocoyam.
The original leaves for Native Soup is Bitter leaf and not Oziza leaf. But it’s a good alternative, since it relieves you of the stress in washing bitterleaves.
A typical list of ingredients would be:
Fresh fish (Tilapia, Croaker, Catfish, Barracuda, Redsnapper, etc. etc.);
Isam (blue periwinkle, removed from it’s black shell);
Ngolo (white periwinkle, removed from it’s white shell. It’s bigger than Isam);
Shrimps or prawns;
Imgbe (Oysters);
Ofingo (Clams);
Sea-snails (normal land snails can be a substitute);
Cocoyam (thickener);
Palm oil;
Pepper;
Salt;
Bitterleaf;
Seasoning cubes (any seasoning of choice).
The above is the original list of ingredients, but because of availability and cost of ingredients, you can cut down on it or use alternative ingredients.
NATIVE SOUP IS EXPENSIVE TO COOK AND ALSO PACKED FULL OF NUTRIENTS.
You nailed it. Here in Port Harcourt where I live, we do make use of ofor instead of the cocoyam. Everything you listed is on point.
Weldon’s chy
Pls in preparing this native soup,
Is it compulsory that you must use periwinkles?
God will bless you real good! not everybody will do what you are doing in the life of many especially the married ones, you have been a blessing to many marriage thank you so much, God will blessing you and continue to bless you for showin us the secret of good cookin you will never lack dis year 2017 this is my prayer for you
Pls Ma can I use snail instead of ngoolo?
U hv done well,keep it up
Keep up the good work
Thanks
You are wonderful!
Thanks so much for your effort.
pls ooooh am from kalabari we do not use offor or achi but cocoyam . thanks though you are doing a great job
Point of correction, it’s Rivers not River State.
@chy u are wonderful thanks for d native soup recipes.
Well done Chidi, I have been trying your recipes and it has been an amazing journey. Thank you so much
I just loveeeee u chy
Hi Chidi, cannot thank you enough 4 ya efforts…thanks again
Hi, really do appre8 this…pls, what us d process of using d cocoyam as d thickener?…tnx
Read through the comments, I made a reply on that.
Hello, thanks for the lovely recipe for rivers state soup. Where can I get ngolo in Lagos?
I buy Ngolo in Oyigbo market, wherever they sell periwinkle, you will see it.
Please am not in nigeria….wanted to confirm if i could use d seeds inplace of d leaves(uziza)
Chi , I have had an opportunity to taste the soup called white soup many yrs back at a restaurant in uyo but not this and as I will make soup for my family;I guess I will try this out too. Can I know the name?
its almost the same thing with ofe owerri and oha/ora soup nahh, the only difference are the leaves and periwinkle … all the same, nice one.
I’m a Yoruba woman living in uyo so your recipes come in handy. Thanks a lot but this particular uziza soup that’s what I use to call it for I don’t know its from PH. I’ve been cooking it for almost five years now little did I know they use ground uziza seed. I think the seed will serve as pepper for the soup since there’s no pepper added to one in the video and I prefer using ofor for its taste and aroma. Thanks a million and pls where can I get the seed? Thanks.
this is great and God bless you for assisting Nigeria women to have knowledge about their national dishes.
You make my pot rock!!! Hubby had to praise me each time he finish eating and ask for more!! That thank God he married me…I’m Soooo happy Chidi…you are God sent. I just Love you. May God increase you in wisdom, strength and creativity. God has used/ is using you to bring happiness in soo many homes. Not just about what you teach but the ‘way’ you teach them…sounds fun and challenging…easy to follow!!! #Bighug#
Hello Chidi,thanks alot.i have awz loved cooking and now bc of you,i can now confidently experiment wt food & ingredients.its so fascinating.Mmmuahh
Please does all your cookbook teach same thing? I saw three different kinds of book.Which one comprises of everything assuming I want to go for one?
pls how can i buy 50 ingredients recipe booklet, i need it madly, thanks
oh my God i love dis site and will always love it tanks for all the info pls i need ice cream tips too cuz i love ice cream, then for the rivers native soup the ingredient u mention are learning ooo der are other sea foods used too but too expensive i always go to greek road market in town wen ever i want to prepare the soup cuz datz wer u get all the sea foodz like shell fish, oyster, water snail plus those once u mentioned, in fact u are too much i love u
How about the Nigerian northern soup?
I tried this recipe, its really whaooo,,my hubby loves it. it was really really Fascinating
I love all the yummy delicacies cooked by you,keep it up.i just watched the video of the rivers native soup you cooked and you added the ground uziza seed,is it still the same as ground pepper? because watching the video, you didn’t add any pepper.Thanks
Thanks for your good work. Got your book online. It’s really been helpful. The rivers native soup seems to have become a favourite with my family. Everybody loves it. Keep up the good work.
Great work keep it up
Joy
I reallyl love all this your rec
ipe ,and I wish to learn more so dat I can be d best in my husband eyes
pl the soup you describe as rivers native soup may be for ikwerre people but not kalabari people.we do not use achi or ofor to thicken our native soup.and we donot combine dry fish with fresh prawn.we only use cocoyam to thicken our native soup.pl take note.we also donot use uziza leave in native soup.tk
Pls, if you don’t use uziza what then do u use
I’m also from Rivers, I use little portion of Well cleaned bitter leave in absence of uziza it gives another swt taste.. Mostly with cocoayam as thickner, also other sea food I luv to use, not so dried catfish and snail in addition.
Thanks Chidi.. ur the best I’ve seen so far, please I’d like to get mails from you on other Northern food and more south/Eastern.. God bless you
Hi, I am pastor Chris froZambia, my wife is south African and we love the Nigerian food and we eat more often. Would you mind to email me the recepes please. The only soups we can make so far is egusi and ogbono(our favorite dishes). You really have great stuff in Nigeria. May God bless you and bless Nigeria. Remain blessed!
Please, I am yet to see ngolo in Abuja market..Do you konw a possible seller?
Thanks for your updates….Really the best.
You are really doing good job,and God bless u for that.
Am Canadian, married to river state man. over here we don’t have
much african shop.but i try to look for one.well i need ur book
how do i get it.ialso would like to mail u too.
Well done ma for ur good job for en-lighting lady’s ideas for cook God bless u richly, TO HELEN (NGOLO IS SEAFOOD U CAN CALL IT OYSTER). THANKS TO U ALL
Ngolo is a periwinkle specie, bigger and white in color. Ngolo is the native name for white periwinkle, while Isam is the native name for the blue periwinkle in black long shell. They are all Periwinkles.
Imgbe is the native name for Oysters.
Pls is it possible to use jst d uziza seed in place of d leaf,thanx n well done to u
Keep it up my lovely sister,heaven will reward you with more wisdom.
GOOD JOB DEAR, WHAT IS THIS NGOLO… ANY OTHER NAME
You are truly great. Hope to be a great cook soon. More grace
you are truly a good cook. thank you for this insight.
i want one of your book that covers river state, ijaw, ibos and yoruba native soup with other nigerian soup, most especially rivers, ijaw and ibo soup.
so which of the book is the right one for me.
thanks.
Thanks for impacting to Us what you got. Thanks for all your mails. You are TWODERFUL Ma. I enjoyed myself. LONG LIVE this vision. Pls where are you from.
its cool buh dnt no wat is ngolo
Pls what’s ngolo and why did u omit it while preparing the soup.
Ngolo is a kind of sea snail from the Mollusc family
Hello I am really happy i receive emails from U. I live at Onitsha in Anambra state,how can i get hold if ur book coz d online method is not working for me.
Hi Chidi, I just wanna say thank u so much for the great work you are doing.You have saved me from the bankruptcy of cooking and also increased my confidence in the kitchen and when serving my husband his food. Thank you so very much and God bless you.Keep up the good work
God bless u for d great work u are doing.
I love you cos u help some women bring back their man home through good food. Am an igbo women i know some of the foods but i want to know more ,please can you help me with more through my email . Thanks and God bless i
Chidi keep d good works going, u are d bomb. My husband loves my cooking. Okoro if u want to marry a Nigeria girl dat can make all Nigerian food very well I have 2.
Thx chy, I’m really excited now and can’t wait to prepare mine. Meanwhile I didn’t see or read where u added d uziza seed u grinded. Thx
Am Yoruba married to an Igbo man…ur recipes have helped me in a long way in keeping him at home more.
Thanks Chidi!
This is simply great! I’ll give it a trial.
Thanks for being there Chidi.
Chidi I must commend you for ur good work .I used ur recipe to prepare dis native soup it was finger licking even to the bottom pot hubby said I should leave the pot for him .his so much love periwinkle and I part great part of it thanks for dis gesture
The traditional thickener for Rivers State Native soup is mostly coco yam. The Ofor and achi
were introduced by the Igbos. Not saying they can’t be used. Just pointing it out.
Hello madam,just wanna commend you for унυя great works,you’ve really improved me in the kitchen,I’m a yoruba lady but №ω i virtually knows how to cook most igbo soup,tαℓк of any soup,u r an angel,God bless u so much..Hαppiε weekend
Hi! Pls I’ve nt tasted periwinkle b4 ΑϞ∂ my man gave ♍e an assignment to prepare his native soup he his frm ikwerre. With ∂ steps I’m sure I can make out something delicious buh ∂ periwinkle do I cook it wif ∂ shell or wht I heard it has meat in it how do I xtract ∂ meat dats my nightmare now pls save ♍e frm ∂ hard home work Tnx nd G̶̲̥̅Ơ̴̴̴̴͡D bless
God bless u o,my fiance happens to b frm rivers state.my question is ..I don’t enjoy eting Goat meat so I was wondering if I can use cowleg or beef.must it be Goat meat for the soup.so illd knw what exactly to stick to.thank u
Hi Chidi U rock. Thanks for ur efforts.
Ur d best,keep up the good work. Tnx
hi, pls can i use pumpkin leaves in place of uziza leaves, because where I’m at i can’t get hold of uziza seeds and leaves. thanks
Hi ify, just to commend u on the wonderful job of bringing our local foods to the doorstep of countless nigerians me inclusive. Keep up the good work.
Hi madam, pls I want to oder for the e book guide n I don’t know how to go about it. Also for some time now u have not been sending me news letters, secondly pls I want u to trow more ligt on vegetable stew used for eating white rice n more foods that are less starchy. Thanks n God bless!
U r n did a god sent,tks 4 de gud wok u r doing,may de gud god bless u,tks.
Hi Chidi, thanks for the mails. May God continue to bless and increase ur wisdom.
Hi i am so happy ,now i can cook any type of meal i want thanks your are my dream come through.
I made a very delicious native soup using the recipe u provide on the site…I was so proud of myself and I also wanted to thank you because my husband loved it.
Thks for your wonderful work, I have really learnt a lot from your recipes.I am a rivers woman and I want to correct a little mistake about our native soup.we use lots of seafood and the main thicker is cocoyam, people only use ofor or achi for convenience. once again I really appreciate your effort.
Keep up the good work Ma. Please can I use cocoyam in place of achi or ofor? Thanks!
I am a Rivers girl, kalabari, The original recipe is cocoyam actually and substituted to Ofor yes achi serves the same purpose as thickener but has a different taste. Additionally we don’t use Stockfish in making our native soup.
Hello Chi. I am a kalabari woman, we have two native soups. Dry fish native and fresh fish native. In the fresh fish native you we use all kinds of sea foods including ngolo, fresh oporo(shrims), fresh imgbe( don’t know the English name lolz), and of course fresh fish. In the dry Fish native you we use dry fish, stock fish, pkomo and some sea foods.
But we use uziza leaf for both soups.
Thanks dear mgbe should be oyster right?
Fresh Igmbe(oyster)
Bio, God bless you. The Kalabari’s don’t use stock fish for our native soup. And bitter leaf is better.
hi Chidi, thanks for your mails on how to prepare most nigerian food.
I really appreciate ur effort. But i wil like u to give me the recipe for the rivers native soup and method of preparation cuz i cant watch
the video with ma phone. Thanks and God bless!
you rock! keep it up!
just wanted to ask if i can use both the ofor and achi together in the same soup instead of using just achi,can i also add ofor? and how do i go about that?
For me I would say use one because they both have different tast. To cook this soup the best is to use ofor.
@ Okoro, so you want to marry a great girl?
Please where do I find a Nigerian girl that cooks exactly like you. I can marry her immediately
Lol… Okoro… Ure welcome to learn from me.. ?
Thanks for sharing Ma and may God bless you
Am a Nigeria and trust me I cook really good
Because of Food you will marry a wrong girl? Shine your eye before you talk this kind of talk next time.
His eyes are wide open, so no need for him to shine eyes again he can only shine to get a good cook like chy.
Am here
I have been trying some of the recipes on the (50 Delicious Nigerian Recipes) and they all seem to turn out quite perfect. I think you are doing such a wonderful job. The recipes, videos, emails are all very helpful. I am also from river state, Opopo but married to a man from Cross River state, Thanks for your wonderful work. You are doing great.
I am very much interested in Ikwerre Recipes. I am an American woman but married to a man from River state, Nigeria. I just want to be able to make some of His tribal recipes. Thanks
Lovely am married to a rivers man,learning the cooking and serving my hubby and babies hot hot with the local delicacies….cos your Rivers men love food