Ekpang Nkukwo (Cocoyam & Wateryam Pottage) |

Ekpang Nkukwo (Cocoyam & Wateryam Pottage)

Serves	6
Allergy	Fish, Shellfish
Dietary	Gluten Free
Meal type	Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot

Although this famous Efik dish is time-consuming to make, it is worth the effort: delicious parcels of steamed cocoyam and water yam in a thick rich scent leaf-infused sauce. Part of the joy of eating it is sucking the mfi out of its shells.

Ingredients

600g Cocoyam (peeled and washed)
1.2kg Water yam (peeled and washed)
1kg Cocoyam leaves
1kg Goat meat (washed, trimmed and cut into medium-sized pieces)
500g Kpomo (washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces)
300gg Mfi periwinkles (thoroughly rinsed and with the tails cut off)
400gg Smoked fish (washed and soaked in hot water and flaked)
4 Scotch Bonnet chillies (blended to a smooth paste)
400g Scent leaf (washed, picked off the stems and finely chopped)
200g Crayfish (finely ground)
Cameroon Pepper & Salt (to taste)

Directions

1.	Grate the water yam and cocoyam into a smooth paste. Season with some salt and set aside.
2.	Place the goat meat and kpomo in a large saucepan and add half of the Scotch Bonnet paste, the Cameroon Pepper and a third of the crayfish with some salt to taste. Pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the meat is tender.
3.	In the meantime, rip the cocoyam leaves along the midrib and main veins. It is important to remove any tough veins as they cause itching. Wash the stripped leaves and set aside.
4.	Pour half of the palm oil into another large saucepan and line the bottom of the saucepan with the periwinkles.
5.	To make the parcels, place a cocoyam strip, shiny-side down, in the palm of one hand; put a small amount of cocoyam/water yam paste onto the leaf and roll it up tightly. A small amount of paste will be squeezed out of either end. Place each parcel carefully onto of the periwinkles. They will expand during the cooking process so ensure you use a large saucepan.
6.	When all the paste and/or cocoyam leaves have been used up, pour the rest of the crayfish into the saucepan with the rest of the chilli paste, the dried fish, cooked meat and some salt. DO NOT STIR IT. Cover with boiling water and any meat stock and bring back to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the parcels are cooked. Add the scent leaf and the rest of the palm oil and serve hot.

Note

Buy cocoyam leaves which are a few days old.
Spinach leaves may be used instead of cocoyam leaves.
Pouring hot water over the parcels helps to seal them and prevents them from falling apart.

Variation: add some fresh prawns about 5 minutes before serving.