This is one soup that I promised myself that if I did not find isam, I would not make it. For those that don’t know what Isam, it is periwinkles and in Rivers state in Nigeria, this soup is not complete without an assortment of seafood. I did not even have all the necessary seafood mix in my soup but i made it work. My sous chef Janet kept licking her plate with no shame in her game because she said this Nigerian Native soup was just too delicious to behave properly.
Another thing to watch for in this Nigerian Native soup is the thickener. I used the cocoyam used to thicken soup, some people use yam and in very desperate times, mashed potatoes. I would however recommend that if you can find the cocoyam used to thicken, then by all means go for that instead. If you live outside Nigeria, you are more likely to find it in Asian grocery stores as eddo or one of the varieties of eddo.
In terms of the leaves I used to flavor this, I used Uziza but if you do not have access to this, you can use basil as a great substitute. If I were you, I would not pass up the opportunity to indulge in this amazing soup. Let me get to the point because some people would need to see this before they leave their office so they can make it tonight.
Recipe for Port Harcourt Native Soup (Serves 3- 4 people)
Ingredients
2 large pieces of Fish (You can use tilapia)
1 cup of chopped jumbo shrimps
1 cup of Isam (periwinkles)
4 pieces of crabs
1/2 cup of crayfish pieces
1/2 cup of chopped uziza
1 small bulb of onion
2 tablespoons of cocoyam thickener
Seasoning cubes
A tablespoon of crayfish powder
1 cooking spoon of Palm Oil
A teaspoon of dry pepper
1 scotch bonnet pepper
Salt to taste
Method
In a pot of boiling water, place your cocoyam to boil, once it is soft, peel it and pound till it forms a paste.
In a separate pot, place your seafood except the crayfish pieces, season with scotch bonnet pepper, onion, dry pepper, seasoning cubes, salt if necessary and bring to boil with 1-2 cups of water.
Once your seafood starts to get done which should take about 8-10 minutes, add your crayfish powder and crayfish pieces and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
Take out your seafood into a plate, add your cocoyam thickener and stir till properly dissolved into a paste. Add your palm oil and uziza and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
Add the seafood to the pot and allow to simmer for one more minute and serve with Garri, Pounded Yam or any swallow of choice.
Cocoyam for thickening
