When talking about Traditional Food or Dish two main dishes come to play in my mind. And when using the phrase "Favorite Traditional Food" it's just one I always trace back to and that is Ekpang Nkukwu
I don't think there is any Akwa Ibomite that doesn't know this dish.
We have people who travel to our state just to have a taste of our wonderful and palatable delicacies and Ekpang Nkukwu is one of those delicacies.
It's rich in nutritional content. It is said that it's the best native food we have here and travelers usually testify of falling in love with it lol.
I exceptionally love it like no man's business and I don't mind eating it every day. But the funny thing is that we don't prepare it every day because of how tedious and time-consuming the preparation of this food is especially if one is doing it alone.
I remember when I was young and my mom usually prepare this food, we ended up eating it in the evening or late afternoon because she used to do it alone and all by herself because we were very small and couldn't do most of the work involved in preparing this food, as such, it takes time for her to finish it up but then we wouldn't mind, we can agree to stay hungry until the food is ready because its one of the dish we love very much especially I 😁🤭
I have numerous reasons for choosing this as my best traditional food.
First of all, the food is nutritional, it's palatable, delicious, and everything you could think of food to be lol. It gives strength and sometimes it makes one very heavy lol😹😁😂
Can I share a story of how I almost murdered myself because of this same favorite dish? I have shared this story somewhere before and because of this, I just can't help but share the story again and this time on hive.
My Favorite Traditional Food! My Bad Experience!
When I say I was in trouble, then believe me cause I almost killed myself because of food hehehehe.
Okay, here is my story.
This happened some months ago, I was pretty busy at home and helping mom with the preparation of Ekpang Nkukwu, like I said that it's time-consuming. I helped her with the few things I could and needed to do and later rushed to church for our rehearsal. Yeah, I left even before the food was ready because I was running very late already and I couldn't risk adding any more minutes to the time to avoid some unnecessary dramas in church.
Mom was preparing the cocoyam and wateryam pudding (Ekpang Nkukwu) and continuing from where I stopped with the preparation. Unfortunately for me, after the church was dismissed, my friend invited me to her place which I couldn't say no or stop myself from going. When we got to her place, she fried ripe plantain and served it with rice. I didn't want to eat the rice so I ate just the fried plantains since I also love fries.
I was a little filled up but I didn't give it much attention being that I love fries as much too. I kept stuffing my stomach with more of the sweet plantain😋🤭
On getting home, my dinner was already served and kept for me
For my mind, I decided to take my bath first to be able to enjoy my favorite pudding well which was the Ekpang Nkukwu mom cooked.
I finished bathing and started eating my food in peace forgetting that I had already eaten at my friend's place before coming back home. And because I just didn't wanna put away my favorite native food so I just had to eat it.
At some point, I couldn't swallow the food again.
Wait what is happening to me😭😢 I almost cried out when I wasn't feeling my stomach again. Like it felt there wasn't any space again left in my stomach not even for air passage or liquid to be precise.
I was suffocating, there wasn't any space again left in my stomach to fill in the remaining part of the food, yet I forced it in and finished everything because it was my favorite.
After the peaceful but painful meal, I felt I was going to die. My stomach was packed and filled up, it was as if the food would soon gush out of my mouth.
I couldn't even free my body again.
This was overfeeding at the highest level. I started looking up remedies on the net to save my situation. I asked for help, what I could do to lessen my worst condition or state.
I couldn't lie down, I couldn't sit, standing was not even an option.
I couldn't sleep either. It felt like I was dying. And I was thinking, how on earth will I kill myself because of food?
I was in trouble! Serious trouble. I remember how people laughed at me and make a mockery of me.
And it's an experience I will never forget in a rush and I promised never to have made such a mistake ever again.
Why kill myself for something I love? Should I rather die simply because I love a particular food and couldn't resist the urge of eating it even after having a meal already?.
Now, this is how my favorite traditional food almost killed me lol.😹😂
It might please you to know that it is still my best food even after trying to kill myself with it lol, and I remember I have shared the method of preparing this food here some years ago but it wouldn't do me any harm to share again how the so-called meal I have been ranting about is prepared and I am sure you would love to taste it if you had a chance and trust me you wouldn't regret it and also remember it all depends on the person preparing it and their own method of preparation.
Below is our own method of preparation, how my mom taught us.
RECIPES AND FOOD ITEMS
- Wateryam
- Cocoyam
- Cocoyam leaf
- Vegetable leaf (Pumpkin leaf)
- Periwinkle
- Fish
- Crayfish
- Pepper
- Salt
- Onions
- Maggi
- Palm kernel Oil
- Water
METHOD OF PREPARATION
Peel and cut the water yam and cocoyam
Wash it in clean water and put inside a clean bowl
Grater the water yam and cocoyam into a clean stray.
- Cut the periwinkle and wash it till clean.
Grind or pound the pepper and crayfish
Slice the onions into a clean plate
cut the cocoyam leaf into small pieces.
Slice the vegetable leaf as well into a clean plate.
Grease your cooking pot with the palm kernel oil.
Mix the grated water yam and cocoyam together, add a small amount of salt and mix well.
- Knead the cocoyam and wateryam until it become very smooth and light a bit
- Cut the mixture and wrap it bit by bit using the cocoyam leaf and then place inside the greased pot.
NOTE: This is one of the most stressful part of the work. You can imagine cutting this bit by bit into the pieced leaves. How time consuming this can be.
After wrapping everything, boil water till very hot and pour it inside the wrapped mixture.
Put it on fire, add the foodstuff and ingredients.
After a while, add the sliced vegetable leaf and stir
Finally, when the food has boiled for a while, add your palm kernel oil.
Wait about a minute or two, then you put out the pot and scoop out your hot and delicious ekpang Nkukwu, ready to be served, awwn, yummy!.
This is the simple steps and procedures in preparing our native dish called "Ekpang Nkukwu" and this is how my mom taught us. What I grew up to see her doing as well.
You can browse the internet to check up more details or other methods of preparation.
All the same, you will still have the same delicious delicacy at the end of it all.
And I bet you, you won't regret the experience. Its quit a palatable and rich meal to consume.
I am very glad and pleased to have shared this experience with you guys today and thanks to Foodies Bee and OCD community for such opportunity.