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Miyan Dawa Dawa

Also known as Miyan Dawa Dawa (Locust Bean Soup)

Miyan Dawa Dawa is a traditional Hausa soup where the fermented locust bean (dawa dawa / dawadawa) is not just an accent but the primary flavour architect of the entire dish. Dawadawa — the fermented seeds of the African locust bean tree (Parkia biglobosa) — is one of the most complex fermented condiments in West African cuisine, with a deeply funky, intensely savoury, almost truffle-like quality that provides extraordinary umami depth.

Miyan Dawa Dawa, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 3 big big tablespoons of dawadawa (fermented locust beans)
  • Half a medium goat or big handful of beef, cut into pieces
  • 1 big handful of smoked fish, soaked and deboned
  • 1 big handful of stockfish, soaked
  • 2 cooking spoons of groundnut oil
  • 3 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
  • 3 to 4 hot chilli peppers, blended
  • 1 big onion, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon of ground dry ginger
  • 1 teaspoon of ground Cameroon pepper
  • 3 big handfuls of fresh spinach or tete leaves, roughly chopped
  • 3 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
  • Salt to taste
  • 4 glasses of meat stock or water

Method

  1. 01

    Cooking the Meat. Season and cook meat and stockfish in water with salt and seasoning cube for 30 to 35 minutes. Reserve the stock.

  2. 02

    Frying the Dawadawa Base. Heat 2 cooking spoons of groundnut oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add the dawadawa — the entire quantity at once. Fry the dawadawa vigorously for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. The pungent, intense aroma will fill the kitchen — this is the transformation of raw fermented funk into deep, roasted, savoury complexity. This step is the defining flavour moment of the soup.

  3. 03

    Building the Flavour Base. Add the blended chilli pepper, ground ginger and Cameroon pepper to the fried dawadawa. Fry together for 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until the pepper is fully cooked and the combined aroma is deeply complex and appetising.

  4. 04

    Adding Proteins and Stock. Add the cooked meat, stockfish and smoked fish. Pour in the reserved meat stock. Add ground crayfish, remaining seasoning cubes and salt. Stir well. Bring to a steady simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.

  5. 05

    Adding the Vegetables. Add the chopped spinach or tete leaves. Stir through and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the leaves are wilted and fully incorporated. Taste and adjust all seasonings. The soup should be deeply savoury, boldly flavoured and have the characteristic powerful dawadawa depth that is unmistakably Northern Nigerian.

More soups & broths

Miyan Dawa Dawa — how to make it | Lounje