How to Prepare Atama Soup with Waterleaf

Atama Soup with Waterleaf Recipe

Atama soup is one of the most enjoyed soups in the southern part of Nigeria, closely following it’s rival the mighty afang soup. Atama has a unique taste and natural aroma which makes it very tasty when eating. Atama soup’s major ingredients is the atama leaves, which is where the name originates from.

Atama leaves is available locally in most states in the southern part of Nigeria. Example: Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia and other states. This soup is native to the people of this region and over the years, there has been some minor adjustments and additions to the original recipe that has been known in the old.

In this recipe, I will be showing you how to cook atama soup with waterleaf. Waterleaf is fleshy, high moisture vegetable available and commonly used for making soups in this part of the world. Today it also finds it’s way to our pot again.

This recipe will make use of palm oil (red oil) instead of using extracts from palm fruits (abak or banga). It is more easier and straightforward using palm oil to cook your atama soup.

Ingredients for Cooking Atama Soup

• Atama leaves
• Waterleaf
• Fish (smoked, dried or fresh)
• Meat (beef or goat meat)
• Stockfish
• Crayfish
• Ponmo (Cowskin)
• Palm oil
• Periwinkle
• Pepper
• Salt
• Seasoning cubes
• Snail

Preparing the Ingredients 

Most of the ingredients for this soup needs to be prepared beforehand. I will begin with the atama leaves.

Atama Leaves

Wash the atama leaves carefully, then allow the water to dryoff from the leaves. chop the leaves into tiny slices using a sharp kitchen knife. Be very careful while doing this to avoid getting cut. If you have the leaves in bulk, you can chop them then sun dry and you can use the dry version anytime you want to cook again. Also note, the sellers do offer to slice it for you or you can buy the already sliced version from the market.

Boil a good amount water. Then use the boild water to rinse the sliced atama leaves, using your hand to apply a little bit of pressure. This will remove the bitterness off the leaves. You might need to do this a few times, depending on how bitter the leaves might be. Once done, set it aside.

Waterleaf

Waterleaf is pretty much easier to prepare. If you have been following my recipes, you would’ve learnt the easiest ways of getting this done. Wash the waterleaf, you might need to do this for 2-3 times to remove all the dirt and sand from the waterleaf.

Chop the waterleaf into smaller slices, but don’t worry it doesn’t have to be thinner like that of atama. Due to it’s watery nature, it will be a more easier task for you. If it is too slimy, wash it using a sieve, then filter out the water. This will help reduce the slimy water off it.

Meat and Fish

Cut your meat into desirable sizes, if it has not been done already by the butcher. Wash and boil it gently. When it boils, add salt, pepper and seasoning cubes. Continue cooking till it tenders.

For the fish, if you are using fresh fish for the soup, or you are using it with a combination of dried or smooked, you can either cook it together with the meat or cook it seperately using the same method as the meat.

Periwinkle

Cut off the tails of the periwinkles if you bought the uncut ones. But it’s preferable if you buy the already cut ones. Wash it repeatedly using enough water till it is squeaky clean. You can add salt while washing to help fasten the process.

Cut periwinkle

How to Prepare Atama Soup with Waterleaf

I will show you the easy and straightforward method of cooking Atama Soup with waterleaf. Just like afang soup, the process is just the same. You can start off the process in two ways, either way the result will still be the same.

1. Add the waterleaf to an empty pot, boil it for some minutes without adding any additional water. After some minutes, added the prepared meat and fish.
2. Add the waterleaf without boiling to the meat and fish and start cooking.

Either way to chose to begin with, you will still have a safe landing. Cook the waterleaf and meat for about 5 minutes, add stockfish, crayfish, seasoning cubes, pepper, periwinkle, ponmo, snail and another other protein you decide to bring on. Add salt to taste, stir to mix all together.

After a few minutes, add palm oil, stir and continue boiling for additional minutes. Once everything is cooked and mixes well, it’s time to add the atama leaves. Add the already prepared leaves, stir, then cover the pot for about 5 minutes. Your delicious atama soup is ready to be served.

Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, cooking atama soup is relatively easy once you know the processes. The chunk of work is in the ingredients prepping and after this is done, cooking is direct and easy to follow through. Continue enjoy our yummy Nigerian recipes.