Soups & Stews

Ekpang Nkukwo

Name: Ekpang Nkukwo
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 600 g peeled cocoyam (edible food-market variety); 250 g peeled water yam; 250 g tender edible cocoyam leaves (washed; tough stems removed); 150 g smoked fish (deboned); 200 g cleaned cooked periwinkle meat; 120 ml red palm oil; 3 tbsp ground dried crayfish; 1 small onion (finely chopped); 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (finely chopped); 10 g scent leaves (chopped); 1 stock cube (optional); 1200 ml hot water (approximately; enough to reach the parcels); to taste salt

Tiny leaf-wrapped cocoyam parcels simmered together in a savoury palm-oil and seafood broth. Ekpang nkukwo rewards the patient work of grating roots and wrapping small parcels. Nigerian recipe writers associate it with special meals; Ibibio contributor Blessing Ekerette describes family gatherings and celebrations. The cocoyam leaf is part of the dish, so both wrapper and filling must be thoroughly cooked. Cultural context: A wrapped cocoyam preparation in Efik and Ibibio cooking, with related dishes across the Cameroon border. This is a Nigerian cocoyam-and-water-yam version.

Ekpang nkukwo cocoyam pottage in a decorative pot

Ekpangnkukwo_01.jpg by Artemisthe1st, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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60 minPreparation

75 minCooking

6Servings

Allow 10 additional minutes for resting / soaking. Total: 145 minutes.

What you’ll need

6 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Wear gloves if raw cocoyam irritates your skin. Grate cocoyam and water yam finely; mix with a small pinch of salt. Never taste the raw mixture.
2
Rub a heavy pot with a spoonful of the palm oil. Cut the leaves into roughly 8–10 cm pieces.
3
Place a teaspoon of grated mixture on each leaf piece and roll into a small parcel, tucking the sides. Arrange loosely in the pot.
4
Add onion, pepper, crayfish, fish, periwinkle, crumbled stock cube and the remaining oil. Pour hot water gently down the side, just to the level of the parcels.
5
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 55–65 minutes, adding hot water when necessary. Do not stir early; gently shake the pot instead.
6
When wrappers and centres are completely soft and cooked, add scent leaves and simmer 5 minutes. Rest 10 minutes, then fold gently to distribute the thickened sauce and serve.

A little kitchen wisdom

Buy edible cocoyam leaves from a food supplier; ornamental elephant-ear leaves are not an acceptable substitute. Large parcels need longer. If the leaves or filling remain firm, continue simmering before serving. Timing: active preparation 60 min; cooking 75 min; additional passive time 10 min; conservative planning allowance 145 min. Some stages may overlap. For Recipe.ng display, prep_minutes includes the additional passive time; it is not all hands-on work. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: Fish; Crustaceans (crayfish); Molluscs (periwinkle); Check stock cube label

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Ekpang nkwukwo, Ekpang

A wrapped cocoyam preparation in Efik and Ibibio cooking, with related dishes across the Cameroon border. This is a Nigerian cocoyam-and-water-yam version.

Allergens: Fish, Crustaceans (crayfish), Molluscs (periwinkle), Check stock cube label