CAMEROONIAN ACHU SOUP

I’ve been eating Achu soup since I was a little girl and this is my grand mother’s recipe – my favorite! Savory, delicate and made with only few ingredients, you won’t believe how comforting it is. Ready in 15 minutes if you have boiled all your meats and put together from start to finish. But first of all you must boil all your beefs and keep the stock because the stock will help with the Taste and flavour of the soup.

Achu soup may be one of the most famous Cameroonian dish of all time. Next to Eru and water-fufu it’s what most people refer to whenever they say they crave Cameroonian cuisine.
To me, Achu soup, is what I have when l don’t feel as pounding achu or when l lack the energy. I will just quickly make the soup and drink from a bowl. I grew up on this deep yellow, savory soup and can never get enough of its comforting properties, its variety of meat, the flavour of it spices. Spices fetched from the deep forest of Africa and from back of rare baobab trees in the tropical forest.

My grand mum makes the best homemade Achu soup. And although it is unlike what you are used to seeing in modern restaurants, hers is another popular version that’s often served in a typical Cameroonian cultural setting.
Using only Variety of well boiled meat, mushrooms, garden eggs, strips, Canda ( cow skin) cow meat, assorted smoked fish. To thicken the yellow soup you can use some small quantity of pounded taro paste, the soup takes on a sweet fragrance that will make you lick your 10 fingers making the soup milder yet still deep in flavor. The lime stone mixed into the soup will give it a mild acidic taste the tender boiled meat stock will add to the flavour of the soup. literally the soup will clear your throat and the meat will melt in your mouth as you chew along with the soup. it’s absolutely delicious!

Achu soup is a traditional Northwestern soup made with tropical ingredients for flavor and taste (soup stock made with varieties of
Meat. Achu paste and various ingredients depending on u
Your village.

While it’s usually served together with pounded Taro some people will prefer to just drink the soup or eat the soup with corn fufu.

INGREDIENTS

700g Meat beef, smoke fish, garden eggs, mushrooms, tripe, cow, stock fish, skin ( All well cooked)
4 cups Water
1 tsp bouillon powder or maggie
1 tbsp ground limestone
2 tbsp Achu Spices
½ cup warm red palm oil
1 hot pepper Habenero
1/2 tsp Salt to taste

RECIPE

1) Boil your meat in a medium –sized pot and season with cubes , salt, and pepper. Make sure you boil your meat until tender some meat like cow skin will take approximately 45 – 60 minutes to cook. When using stock fish please soak in water overnight before cooking. Keep the stock aside for the soup. If you want more soup then keep more stock. Some meat must be boiled separately because their cooking time is different. Separate stock and meat when all your meats are well cooked. While your meat is boiling you can then add limestone. Optional you can add limestone while mixing the soup.

2) When your stock at room temperature that’s when you start mixing your soup with the different ingredients .

3) l use blender in mixing my soup because it’s faster and mixes very well.
Pour stock in the blender, add some oil lime stone and Achu powered spices. Blend the mixture and you will have a smooth pure yellow colour. At this point, all the spices have been fully mixed together to give a wonderful taste and flavour.

4) Taste to make sure salt and Maggie are enough. At this point you can add any missing ingredients.

5) You can now mix your soup with all the varieties of meat. And drink your soup. This soup can be serve with Achu which is pounded taro.

6) A rich Achu soup has got many particulars as we fondly say. Those particulars are a combination of varieties of meat.

Viola! Bon appetite.