Best Shops to Buy Stockfish in Liverpool (2026)
You can buy stockfish, the air dried cod known as okporoko, at most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated are Harvestfield Store and Temmy African Store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington shops.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
You can buy stockfish, the air dried cod known as okporoko, at most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated are Harvestfield Store and Temmy African Store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington shops. You can find African food stores near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Stockfish is a staple in Liverpool's Nigerian and West African food shops, so it is easy to find once you know where to look.
- The best rated shops for it sit around County Road in Walton, Breck Road across Everton and Anfield, Kensington, and Bold Street in the city centre.
- It comes whole, in cut pieces, or as heads, so ask for the cut your soup wants.
- To find a shop near you across the city, African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops wherever you are.
A soup made with proper stockfish tastes of home before you have taken a bite, the savour of it working through the pot as it softens on the hob. Many Nigerians in Liverpool will tell you that okporoko is the ingredient that turns a good egusi or ogbono into the real thing, and tracking down a shop that keeps it well is part of settling in. What we liked across the city is how many of these grocers are run by people who cook the same food themselves and will point you to the piece that suits your soup. That is worth more than any label.
1. Harvestfield Store A County Road favourite and one of the highest rated African shops in the city at 4.8, run with a clear Nigerian and West African focus, which is exactly what you want for stockfish. Shoppers praise it for fresh stock and hard to find staples, the sort of shop where the okporoko is good and the soup ingredients to go with it are all on the same shelf. You will find it at 165-169 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PB.
2. Minara Farm A busy meat and fish market on Prescot Road in Old Swan with a strong 4.7, handy if you are buying the goat, tripe or fresh fish for the pot at the same time as your stockfish. Reviewers rate it for freshness and value, so it is a natural one stop for the whole soup. You will find it at 4-10 Stanley Building, Prescot Rd, Old Swan, Liverpool L13 3AS.
3. Temmy African Store A well loved Nigerian shop on Breck Road at 4.7, the kind of neighbourhood grocer where regulars come for their stockfish, dried fish and egusi. Shoppers mention friendly service and a good, reliable range of Nigerian staples. You will find it at 292 Breck Rd, Liverpool L5 6QB.
4. Mj Unique Ventures A West African shop just along Breck Road in Anfield, rated 4.7, small but well stocked and rated highly by the people who use it. A good local call for stockfish and the greens and seasonings that go with it. You will find it at 82 Breck Rd, Anfield, Liverpool L4 2RD.
5. Matta's International Food The Liverpool institution, on Bold Street for around forty years and rated 4.6 across more than a thousand reviews. Its range runs well beyond African food, but the African and Caribbean pantry shelves are proper, and dried fish and stockfish sit among them. If you are in the city centre, this is the easy one. You will find it at 51 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EU.
6. Kensington Superstore A large, busy store on Kensington rated 4.5 across nearly three hundred reviews, with a wide African and Caribbean grocery range and the footfall to keep stock turning over. A dependable Kensington choice for stockfish and the rest of the soup. You will find it at 287 Kensington, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 2RG.
7. Blue Nile Grocery Store A friendly grocer on Holt Road in Kensington at 4.4, with a butcher counter alongside the groceries, so you can pick up your meat and your stockfish in one trip. You will find it at 43 Holt Rd, Liverpool L7 2PL.
8. J & I International Store A well rated halal grocer on Mulgrave Street in Toxteth at 4.4, with a butcher counter and a solid African and Caribbean range, useful if you want your soup meat halal alongside your stockfish. You will find it at 101 Mulgrave St, Liverpool L8 2TD.
How we picked this list We hold data on the African and Caribbean food shops across the city and ranked them by the rating real shoppers give them on Google, reading the reviews so the strengths we mention are the ones people actually value. For stockfish we leaned toward the Nigerian and West African shops, where it sells and stays in stock, and we included the well rated full-range African grocers that carry it too. No reviews itemised stockfish by name, so we corroborated its presence from each shop's range and heritage rather than from a direct mention. Grocers gather fewer reviews than restaurants, so we set a sensible review floor to keep the list fair, and kept the list to Liverpool city. Small shops change their hours and stock, so it is worth a quick call before a big trip, and worth asking whether it is sold whole, in pieces or as heads. You can find African food stores near you and Caribbean food stores near you on African Stores.
Where to buy stockfish in Liverpool The main clusters are County Road in Walton, Breck Road across Everton and Anfield, Kensington and Toxteth around Lodge Lane and Granby Street, with Matta's as the city centre landmark. Wherever you are in the city one is rarely far. And if you want the nearest shop to home, African Stores helps you find African food stores near you, so you can pick up your stockfish, dried fish and greens close by.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy stockfish in Liverpool?
Stockfish is stocked by most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated include Harvestfield Store and Temmy African Store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street, and the Kensington shops. African Stores lists African food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks stockfish.
What is stockfish?
Stockfish is cod, or sometimes haddock or ling, that has been air dried without salt until it is rock hard, which concentrates its flavour and lets it keep for a long time. In Nigeria it is known as okporoko or panla, and it gives a deep, savoury note to soups such as egusi, ogbono, oha, afang and pepper soup. It is sold whole, in cut pieces, or as stockfish heads.
How do I prepare and soften stockfish?
Because stockfish is dried hard, it needs softening before it goes into the pot. Soak it in water for several hours or overnight, or boil it until it is tender, then clean it and add it to your soup to cook on. The longer it simmers, the softer it becomes and the more flavour it gives.
Is stockfish a fish allergen?
Yes. Stockfish is dried fish, so it is a fish allergen and is not suitable for anyone who needs to avoid fish. It is stored dry, and African shops often keep dried fish and other seafood together, so ask the shop if you need to check for cross contact.
How do I find an African food shop near me?
African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks stockfish and the rest of your soup ingredients, wherever you are.
