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Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup)
Cassava boiled and pounded with hot pepper into a thick, tangy soup with palm oil, tamarind and lime, loaded with smoked fish, crab and shrimp.
Gambian · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 45 min
~511 cal · 24g protein · 69g carbs · 15g fat · 4g fiber · 5g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ebbeh is The Gambia's favourite street soup, a spicy seafood soup thickened with . It is sold by the bowl, especially in the evening, and made at home as a comforting one-pot meal.
The is boiled until tender, then pounded with hot peppers and returned to the pot, where it thickens the broth while a few chunks stay whole for texture. , smoked bonga or catfish, crab and shrimp go in next, and the soup is soured with and lime, which give ebbeh its signature tang.
Cooks vary it with sweet potato or yam, and some season and steam the crab separately before adding it. It should be thick, sharp, fiery and rich all at once.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1 kg , peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 2 to 3 hot peppers ()
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup red
- 250 g smoked bonga fish or smoked catfish, boned and flaked
- 4 small crabs, cleaned and halved
- 300 g raw shrimp, peeled
- 40 g pulp, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water and strained
- 2 cubes
- 1 tsp hot red chili powder
- about 2 litres water
- 4 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- 1Put the cassava in a large pot with the salt and enough water to cover. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes until tender, then drain, keeping the cooking pot.
- 2Set aside a few chunks of cassava. Pound or mash the rest with the hot peppers into a thick, rough paste.
- 3Heat the palm oil in the pot over medium heat and fry the onion for 3 to 4 minutes until softening. Add the cassava paste and the reserved chunks, pour in the water and bring to a boil, stirring.
- 4Add the smoked fish, crabs, tamarind liquid, crumbled stock cubes and chili powder and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often so the bottom does not catch.
- 5Add the shrimp and simmer for 5 minutes more until they are pink and the soup is thick. Stir in the lime juice, taste for salt and serve hot.✎ Chef’s noteIf the soup is thinner than you like, mash a few more pieces of cassava against the side of the pot. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
Gambian street food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Banjul. Banjul sits at the mouth of the Gambia River and is devoted to superkanja, a thick okra stew with palm oil, smoked fish, and meat over rice. Groundnut stews, benachin one-pot rice, and river fish are everyday.
🗺️
The Gambia. Supa kanja is the headline dish: okra stewed with palm oil, smoked and dried fish and meat, poured over rice, and thick enough to pull. Benachin, the one-pot rice, sits in the same family as Senegalese ceebu jen, and domoda is the groundnut stew, sometimes spelled domodah. Jute leaves, locust beans and bitter tomato are the pot's other regulars.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from The Gambia
SuperkanjaThe Gambia's rich okra stew with palm oil, smoked fish, and meat, spooned over rice.
TapalapaThe Gambia's daily bread: a crusty, dense baton of mixed millet, maize, and wheat flours, baked in a clay oven and torn open for breakfast.
DomodaThe Gambian groundnut stew: meat simmered in a thick, tangy peanut sauce with tomato and pumpkin, served over rice.
Browse all The Gambia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a The Gambia meal
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ChakeryDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup)?
Cassava boiled and pounded with hot pepper into a thick, tangy soup with palm oil, tamarind and lime, loaded with smoked fish, crab and shrimp.
Where does Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) come from?
Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) is a Gambian dish from Banjul, The Gambia.
Can Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ebbeh (Gambian Cassava and Seafood Soup) take to make?
About 75 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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