My Staple Ingredients for Cooking Nigerian Food & Substitutes

I thought it would be a good idea to show you the main ingredients that I use in my cooking to produce all the recipes that you see on this blog. I noticed from my stats that someone did a search on substitutes for Maggi and Knorr cubes and in all honesty, that was what really inspired this post.

On to the main suspects: The ingredients in the above picture are those that I have to have whenever I'm cooking any Nigerian food, be it for boiling meat or chicken or cooking rice or stews and soups. It doesn't even have to be Nigerian, things like steak, pork etc

In order of appearance (from left to right):

Dried Thyme:
must have for boiling chicken, adds incredible flavor.

Dried Bay Leaves:
must have for boiling chicken, goat meat (meat of any kind really), cooking jollof rice. The aroma and flavor it lends is really amazing.

Scotch Bonnet Pepper Powder:
You can get this from your African grocer (maybe Mexican). If you can't find this, dried/ ground red pepper would be a substitute.

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes:
I love this because it adds texture to stocks (meat or chicken) and is great especially when you use that stock for cooking something like jollof rice, it gives it more character.

Goya Adobo w/ Pepper:
This can be bought from your African or Mexican grocer, some regular groceries will carry this in their ethnic aisle. If not, I've also seen it at Walmart. This, for me is a must have, because some of you might have noticed that I don't really use salt in my cooking and the reason is because Goya Adobo usually takes the place of salt and sometimes it also takes the place of Knorr and Maggi Cubes. So, any Goya Adobo seasoning would be a great substitute for Maggi or Knorr cubes.

Ground African Hot Pepper:
You can get this from your local African grocer, at least that's the only place that I've ever seen it. This can be substituted for the Scotch Bonnet Pepper Powder.

Knorr Cubes:
This is usually a staple for me. It takes your food from bland to wow. Although, this has Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), I haven't yet found a substitute that can entirely take it's place. Nigerians might remember Ajino-Moto, which literally looks exactly like MSG and might have been pure MSG. If I remember correctly, Ajino-Moto might have been banned in Nigeria. I do recall seeing it as a Nigerian grocery store here and I know she gets her supplies from home, so maybe it's still being sold. I've never used it, so I can't attest to the kind of flavor it adds to food. Also, if you're not familiar with Knorr cubes, there is another kind usually sold as Bouillon which is not the kind I use. The bouillon cubes are used to create stocks by themselves and don't really have much flavor.

Maggi Cubes:
This has been incredibly washed out by the flash, I'm so sorry! It's right next to the Knorr cubes though. I don't really use this in cooking because in my opinion, it is saltier than Knorr cubes. I only use it when I run out of Knorr cubes. It also contains MSG.

Jumbo Cubes:
This is not pictured as I don't have any left, but these are as good as Knorr cubes. Click on the link provided to see a picture of what they look like. I've really only seen them at African stores. I really like them too, but I always forget to pick them up. If you can't get Knorr cubes, these would be a great substitute.

Fresh Garlic and Ginger:
These are not pictured, but they are usually staples of mine, garlic moreso than ginger, only because I tend to forget to get it at the store. It really adds a a nice taste to whatever you're cooking and is also good for your health. It makes people wonder 'wow, this is so good, I wonder what ingredients s/he used in this!'

I hope this list helps someone out there, more especially so if you're wondering what ingredients to use (especially for Nigerian food). This is what I've found to work for me over the years, as always experiment with various ingredients to see what you like best.

*If you decide to use Goya Adobo, Knorr, Maggi or Jumbo cubes, please do not add salt.*

Some might wonder why I don't use seasoned salt and the simple reason, I don't think it's properly seasoned and to top it off, it mainly consists of salt to which amounts of other ingredients are added.

Also, you don't have to buy expensive brands of ingredients like Bay leaves, Thyme etc. CVS and Walgreens carry their own pretty inexpensive brands (about $1, sometimes on sale for 88c at CVS) and you can stock up. I usually get two of each so I don't have to worry about running out.

Part 2 of this list will follow and will consist of ingredients that I don't use as regularly but always find a way of sneaking into the pot!

If you have any questions whatsoever on this list, please do not hesitate to email me! (yetunde@avartsycooking.com)