Finding Nigerian ingredients in Calgary

We would rather cook for you. But a cuisine only survives where people cook it at home, and every Nigerian household in Alberta has at some point stood in a supermarket wondering what on earth to substitute for ugu.

Here is what is findable, what is worth importing, and what you genuinely cannot fake.

Where to look

African and Caribbean grocery shops are your first stop, and in the Calgary area most of them are in the north-east. They carry the specifically Nigerian things: egusi, ogbono, okazi, crayfish, stockfish, red palm oil, ogiri, garri, yam flour and the dried leaves.

Beyond those:

• South Asian and Middle Eastern grocers are good for scotch bonnet and other hot peppers, dried fish, fresh ginger in quantity, and bulk spices at sensible prices.
• East Asian supermarkets often carry whole tilapia and catfish, frozen or fresh, at better prices and better quality than a general supermarket.
• Regular supermarkets handle the rest: long-grain rice, tomatoes, onions, peppers, spinach, chicken and beef.

Shops open and close, so rather than name specific ones that may have changed hands, ask in a local Nigerian or West African community group. You will get a current answer and probably an argument about which one is best.

The non-negotiables

Four things have no honest substitute. If you cannot get them, cook a different dish rather than a worse version of this one.

Red palm oil

Unrefined, deep orange-red, solid below room temperature. It supplies colour, aroma and a large part of the flavour. Vegetable oil produces a pale, thin, wrong-tasting soup. Palm kernel oil is a different product entirely — darker, harsher, used for different things — and is not a substitute.

Crayfish

Dried ground shrimp. It is in almost every Nigerian soup and provides savouriness that nothing else replicates. Shrimp paste and fish sauce are not the same and will make the dish taste like somewhere else.

Ogiri or iru

Fermented seed paste. Pungent, and responsible for the deep back note in Igbo and Yoruba soups. Miso is the nearest thing in principle and still not close.

Stockfish

For Ofe Owerri and the other prestige soups. Expensive, imported, and the thing that makes those soups taste like themselves.

Substitutions that work

Instead of	Use	How close
Ugu (pumpkin leaf)	Spinach, or kale for more structure	Good
Waterleaf	Spinach with a little extra water	Good
Cocoyam	Achi or ofor powder; at a push, a little potato starch	Acceptable
Bitterleaf	Kale, well washed, plus a squeeze of lemon	Rough
Okazi	Nothing convincing. Buy it dried.	Poor
Scotch bonnet	Habanero	Excellent, near identical
Nigerian long pepper	Black pepper plus a pinch of allspice	Acceptable
Ponmo	Leave it out; nothing else does that texture	—

Buying well

Buy egusi and ogbono whole and grind them yourself if you possibly can. Ground ogbono in particular loses its drawing power on the shelf, and the difference between fresh-ground and a bag that has been open for two months is the difference between a soup that works and one that does not. A coffee grinder kept for spices is enough.

Palm oil should be a deep orange-red, not brown. Brown usually means old or overheated. It solidifying in a cold kitchen is normal and not a fault.

Check the dried leaves for stems and grit. Cheap okazi is often mostly stem, and you will spend an hour picking through it.

Stockfish is sold in several grades. Head is cheapest and full of flavour but mostly bone. Body pieces cost more and give you something to eat.

Buy garri from a shop that sells a lot of it. It absorbs moisture and goes stale, and turnover matters more than brand.

Storing what you buy

• Ground egusi and ogbono: freezer, in a sealed bag. They go rancid at room temperature within weeks.
• Crayfish: freezer too, for the same reason.
• Dried leaves: airtight, dark, dry. They keep for months.
• Palm oil: cupboard. It lasts a year and solidifies harmlessly when cold.
• Stockfish: dry and airy before soaking; once rehydrated, use it.
• Ogiri: fridge, sealed twice unless you want your whole fridge to smell of it. This is not an exaggeration.

When it goes wrong

The three most common home failures, and what causes them:

1. Egusi soup that is gritty rather than clumped. The egusi was not fried long enough in the oil before liquid went in.
2. Ogbono that will not draw. Stale ogbono, or it was added to liquid that was already boiling instead of being dissolved in oil first.
3. Jollof with no smoke. The heat was too low and the rice never caught at the bottom. That catching is the flavour.

Common questions

Where can I buy Nigerian ingredients in Calgary?

African and Caribbean grocery shops, mostly in the north-east, carry egusi, ogbono, okazi, crayfish, stockfish, red palm oil and ogiri.

Can I use vegetable oil instead of red palm oil?

No. It provides colour, aroma and much of the flavour, and palm kernel oil is a different product that is also not a substitute.

What can I use instead of ugu?

Spinach is closest, kale if you want more structure. Neither tastes the same but both work.