Popular Nigerian foods
One of the distinctive features of ‘Nigerian food’ is the ubiquity of pepper. But to focus on the pepper element would be to undermine the luxurious intermingling of all the rich, robust flavours and textures that also typify Nigerian foods. To speak of ‘Nigerian food’, though, is a misnomer: Nigeria is home to more than 250 ethnic groups (the three largest ethnic groups –Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo comprise more than half of the total population) with over 500 distinct languages all identifying with a variety of cultures. Geographical, ethnic and cultural divisions weave their distinctive influences into the foods eaten in Nigeria, and you don’t have to be an aficionado of Nigerian food to spot these. Nonetheless, there are Nigerian foods that transcend these geographical, ethnic and cultural divisions; here are seven of them that achieve the seemingly impossible task of union through diversity, along with links to our hand-picked Nigerian food recipes that demonstrate how you can make them at home.
Jollof rice
Jollof rice is pretty much synonymous with Nigerian food. The nation’s flagship one-pot rice dish is typically made with long-grain rice and a base of tomato, onion and pepper. My late grandmother had, hands down, the best version of jollof rice I have ever tasted; I have thus far been unable to replicate it. She had that unique skill of being able to coax the flavours out of the core ingredients to extract levels of nuance that differentiated hers from all others. How she did it, I will never know. Here’s my easy-peasy version.
Other popular rice-based dishes include Nigerian fried rice, coconut rice, pate and tuwo shinkafa.
Beef suya
Everyone’s favourite street food, suya is a Hausa speciality food that is essentially strips of beef meat, seasoned in a delectable suya spice or ‘yaji’ (readily available in Nigeria; I buy a batch and bring it back to the UK. Alternatively, you can make your own: try chef Kwame Onwuachi’s recipe) and then grilled. Popular with almost everyone, suya is Nigeria’s equivalent of the UK’s fish ‘n’ chips, similarly served in between the pages of old newspapers. It is rarely made at home but you could, quite easily, replicate the dish at home.
Efo riro
A Yoruba dish, efo riro is a traditional Nigerian food, made with green leafy vegetables (you could even use kale) and obe ata as the base sauce to which is added protein in the form of, for example, dried crayfish, tilapia chunks, beef or chicken. Heady, bright and savoury, efo riro packs a punch. It can be eaten with any type of ‘swallow’, for example, amala or pounded yam. Try this no-meat version of efo riro, which is very good!
Edikang Ikong soup
This extremely popular dish is claimed by the Efik and Ibibio people of Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom states as one of theirs. A hearty and very nutritious meal, Edikang Ikong soup is composed of ugwu (pumpkin leaves), water leaf and a variety of proteins, typically seafood and ‘obstacles’ (ie, assorted meat cuts to which Nigerian foodies are partial). Try this recipe.
Moi Moi
This steamed bean pudding is made from a combination of black-eyed peas, onions and fresh ground peppers. The beans are first soaked in water until soft enough for the peel to come off (with some manual agitation). They are then blended to a paste before the addition of stock cubes, dried fish and oil (usually palm oil). Moi Moi can be eaten ungarnished, but sliced boiled eggs are a popular inclusion.
Buka stew
This devastatingly rich, earthy, delicious stew combines the fresh flavours of tomato, onion and pepper with chunky cuts of meat and bleached palm oil to produce an all-in-one banquet for the taste buds. Sisi Jemimah’s recipe is one of the best we’ve come across online.
Yam
Top tips: when buying yam, press the tough dark brown skin of the tuber all over – the yam should feel firm with no soft areas (a sign that the yam is not fresh). Additionally, avoid yams with bruises or cracks in the skin. You will need a paring knife to remove the tough outer skin.
Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of yams, responsible for almost 80% of the world’s production of yams. A food that wears many hats, white yam (the most common type in Nigeria) can be sliced into rounds and boiled, cut into thin strips and fried (dun dun), or pounded (iyan) for ‘swallow’. (A favourite with my children is yam fries dipped into a harissa and mayonnaise dip). Yam is also very popular when eaten in dishes such as yam porridge (asaro), ikokore (this Ijebu dish uses ‘water yam’) or fashioned into cute little yam balls.
So, which of our list of popular Nigerian foods will you be making?
