The bedrock of tasty Nigerian meals

Meat stock is unarguably one of the most important ingredients in any delicious meal. It forms the basis of most tasty Nigerian recipes, including the famous Jollof rice.

Meat stock is the savory liquid in which meat (beef or chicken) or fish, bones, and sometimes vegetables have been simmered. Nigerians are known to cook portions of meat and the liquid is then separated and refrigerated to be added to meals.

Meat stock is what stock cubes like Maggi and bouillons are made from. The meat stock is simply dehydrated and commercially made into stock cubes and powders.

The main advantage of meat stock is that it saves time for cooks and makes whipping up a speedy meal or soup very easily. You don't have to start adding all your ingredients one after the other when you can just use your meat stock. Another advantage is that homemade stocks do not contain the preservatives the commercially produced ones have.

There is hardly any Nigerian recipe that does not require stock, especially soups, stew, sauces, and more, including fried rice and Jollof rice. Nigerian Jollof is arguably the best of its kind and one of the top secrets to its delicious taste is meat stock due to its deep rich flavor. Your average Nigerian meat stock has onions, garlic, ginger, curry powder, dried thyme, salt, and Maggi.

Fish stock is not commonly used in Nigeria but can be achieved with fish bones, fish head, fins, and spices. Moi Moi and beans dishes are dishes that mostly require fish stock and also some vegetable soups and sauces.

Meat stock is prepared by cooking different chicken or beef parts- like boney beef parts (locally called biscuit bone), meats with lots of muscle like Cow shin, beef with fat deposits like hump, offal (Shaki, Abodi), cow leg, etc.- with spices like salt, stock cubes, bay leaves, thyme, curry, onions, nutmeg, and other ingredients to suit ones taste. They are then cooked together for a while, the stock is then sieved and stored.

Meat stock is known to give meals that unique taste which is why most Nigerians cannot do without it.