Soups & Stews

Miyan Kuka

Name: Miyan Kuka
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 100 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 600 g beef stewing pieces; 100 g smoked dried fish (Cleaned and fully deboned); 1 medium onion (Chopped); 1200 ml water (Plus small additions as needed); 3 tbsp kuka powder (Food-grade dried baobab leaf powder; sifted); 2 tbsp palm oil; 1 tbsp ground dried crayfish; 1 tsp ground dawadawa (Fermented locust beans; check for soy substitutes); 1 small Scotch bonnet pepper (Finely chopped; use less for mild soup); 0.5 tsp salt (Adjust at the end)

A silky, gently drawing soup thickened with dried baobab leaves, with beef and smoked fish. The defining ingredient is kuka, powdered baobab leaf. Dried leaves make this distinctive soup possible beyond the fresh-leaf season. Northern households commonly eat it with tuwo, although the choice of oil, meat and fish is far from uniform. Cultural context: Strongly associated with Hausa cooking, with related baobab-leaf soups throughout the Sahel; oils and proteins vary.

Miyan_kuka_01.jpg by Sadeeq Abubakar taiger, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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20 minPreparation

100 minCooking

4Servings

What you’ll need

4 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Put beef, onion, salt and water in a pot. Simmer covered for 60–75 minutes, until the beef is tender; replenish evaporated water as necessary.
2
Add fish, palm oil, crayfish, dawadawa and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Lift the meat and fish into a bowl so they will not obstruct mixing.
3
Check that about 800–900 ml of liquid remains; add hot water if needed. Turn the heat very low and sprinkle in the sifted kuka a little at a time, whisking briskly.
4
Simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring along the base. Return the meat and fish and heat for 3–5 minutes. Adjust salt and loosen with hot water if necessary.
5
Serve with tuwo shinkafa or tuwo masara. The soup should flow from a spoon with a slight stretch.

A little kitchen wisdom

Kuka is baobab leaf powder, not the pale powder made from baobab fruit Whisking the powder into a clear broth helps prevent dry lumps For a groundnut-oil version, replace the palm oil and disclose the peanut ingredient Timing: active preparation 20 min; cooking 100 min; additional passive time 0 min; conservative planning allowance 120 min. Some stages may overlap. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: fish; crustaceans

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Miyar kuka, Baobab-leaf soup

Strongly associated with Hausa cooking, with related baobab-leaf soups throughout the Sahel; oils and proteins vary.

Allergens: fish, crustaceans