NIGERIA'S FAVORITE FOOD
Nigeria, as a multi-ethnic country is a rich land for fabulously delicious delicacies. From the east, west, north and south to virtually every corner in the country, there is a superabundance of fantastic flavorful dishes that bring Nigerians together. The deeply flavored sauces, soups, savoury dishes, lavish aromatic market and mouth watering snacks are just out of this world. This nation is also a land of food combinations. Of course, food combination is definitely not peculiar to Nigerians alone, but I dare say that Nigerians have perfected the art. With the peculiarly well garnished and delectable Nigerian dishes, you can't help but fall in love with them all.
Therefore, tagging a particular food as the ‘favorite' might seem a little biased, but then, based on popular demand and availability, rice would pass as the king. Rice is a food common to all ethnic groups in Nigeria (and also other countries all over the world).
It is consumed in every part of the country—virtually all Nigerian homes, can be served with a variety of soups and is cooked in so many ways. Each of these rice dishes come in absolutely different tastes; you won’t imagine you’re eating the same rice we all know.
Rice can be made into the traditional dish, pate, which is a combination of rice with ground dry corn, spinach, tomatoes, onion, peppers, garden eggs, locust beans, groundnuts, beef cartilage (biscuit bones) and minced meat. Pate is commonly eaten in northern Nigerian states (such as Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau). You should definitely try it sometime!
There’s also mashed rice, tuwo shinkafa, a thick rice pudding prepared by boiling rice to tenderness and then mashing it into semi-solid form. It is usually eaten with miyan kuka (a thick soup) and goat meat stew, miyan taushe, a pumpkin stew made with spinach, meat (usually goat or mutton) and smoked fish or even bean soup. It is primarily eaten in the northern part of Nigeria but also a loved swallow (morsel) across the country. Tuwo shinkafa is now becoming a dish for everyone, you can't help but love it especially when eaten with its miyan taushe in the abula style.
Another rice delicacy worth mentioning is the yummy coconut rice. It is simply just rice cooked in coconut milk or with coconut flakes; a really tasty dish that goes with many rice accessories.
A special type of rice, ofada rice whose origin is Abeokuta in Ogun state is another popular Nigerian rice dish. It can either be white or brown, the brown being more nutritious.
It is eaten with ofada stew, a palm oil-based stew cooked with unripe pepper and tomatoes, beef, cow skin and locust beans. Ofada rice is usually served in ewe (flat broad leaves); it’s very popular in western Nigeria for its unique flavor and aroma. If you've not tried Ofada, then you've not really explored the world of rice. The taste is out of this world. It’s my best rice dish and I can't help wanting more whenever I get to eat it. You can say that I have a taste for scrumptious meals.
Now to the king of rice dishes, jollof rice. Jollof rice is rice cooked with onion, tomato and pepper base. This is an all-rounder, a very popular and special dish not only in Nigeria, but the whole of West Africa.
Another popular variant of rice is fried rice (which is usually eaten as a combined dish with jollof rice especially at events). It is typically mixed with an assortment of vegetables, eggs, meat, poultry or prawns. Depending on the ingredients used, we have plain fried rice, egg fried rice, cabbage fried rice and coconut fried rice.
Rice and beans is another common food combo with rice. It can be a one-pot meal or cooked separately. Rice can be cooked together with beans as white boiled, as jollof or separately with either or both of the two as stewed meals. We also have the fantastic waakye which originated from Ghana; this dish is one of the most preferred rice and beans combinations.
Rice isn't always eaten as a main meal, it can also be used in making snacks. One of such is masa, a rice-based snack originating from the north. Masa is prepared by soaking rice, grinding it and adding yoghurt to form a thick paste which is left to ferment. Yeast and sugar is added to taste. It is then poured into clay forms and heated from below. A spatula is used to flip it over and gouge the masa out of the form. It is traditionally served with miyan taushe or honey and can be eaten as breakfast or lunch. It's finger licking good!
Another rice snack is sinasir (flat pancake like form of masa) made by simply pouring the prepared rice paste into a frying pan, thus avoiding the need to flip it over as would be necessary with masa. This is predominantly a Hausa food.
Now, let’s not forget our plain old boiled white rice. This is just rice cooked alone with or without salt, depending on your preference. It is served with local pepper stews, soups and sauces from different tribes richly garnished with fish or meat. Some of these include:
Rice stew, a stew made with beef, fish, chicken or goat meat is cooked with tomatoes, onions and pepper. This is unarguably made for rice, the combo taste is fabulous.
Mostly eaten with swallows, egusi soup, a thickened ground melon soup, containing vegetables, meat and palm oil is yet another great soup for rice. It brings out a unique vegetable rice taste. If you haven't tried the combo, then you're missing out. By all means, try it!
The Yoruba efo riro is another wonderful vegetable taste for rice. A stew made from leafy vegetables, pepper and palm oil is very common among the Yorubas, it is in fact, one of the top soups. Other ethnic groups also have their own versions of efo riro. Another soup eaten with rice is the banga soup, made from ripe palm fruit and garnished with meats, fish and other special ingredients that give it a unique aroma and taste. We also have the one-pot meal, banga rice, and it’s a bang.
The appetizing pepper soup, a light soup made from a mix of meat and fish with herbs and spices is one soup that is mostly eaten alone and often as an appetizer. It also goes well with rice, spice rich rice-pepper soup.
One big Nigerian meal, the ogbono soup made with ground ogbono seeds with considerable local variation containing meat, palm oil, seasonings, vegetables, tomatoes, onions, iru (fermented locust beans) is also a great combo with rice. Although ogbono is mostly eaten with swallows, it also blends well with rice and gives another taste of rice magic.
Other soups that can be eaten with rice are afang soup and nwobi (cow leg soup)
There are also rice accessories, the side dishes that go well with all rice dishes. They include:
Suya, from the north of Nigeria, is grilled meat slices coated with ground chili pepper, peanut powder and other local spices. It is prepared in a barbecue-style on a stick. Suya is one of the famous Nigerian delicacies and is eaten all over the country.
Asun (roasted goat) is a delectable spicy roasted goat chopped into bite sized pieces with big bold aromatic flavors from onions, garlic and bell peppers. It’s native to the Yoruba-speaking Ondo people in western Nigeria.
Dodo is made with plantains fried in vegetable or palm oil, preferably ripe plantain. Who doesn't like dodo, especially when eaten with rice and beans and fish or any other meat of your choice.
Moin-moin is a savoury steamed bean pudding made from peeled beans. Rice and moin-moin is such a fantabulous match. You should try it sometime, if you haven’t already.
Salad and coleslaw are also yummily tasty accessories that revamp your rice dishes.
So, there you have it. The many combinations for rice! Just about anything goes well with rice and there’s hardly anyone in Nigeria who doesn’t like rice.
We’ll like to hear from you. How best do you like your rice? Which of the combinations in the article have you tasted ? Is there any you'd like to try?
Sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_cuisine
https://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/rice/white-rice/
Sulaiman Aishat Taiwo
Member, NIMELSSA EDITORIAL TEAM 19/20.
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