Soups are those special sauces that accompany the major Nigerian food commonly known as Foo Foo (Fufu). Foo Foo is a generic name for food you swallow during the eating process. Foo Foo is generally tastless and rely on the richness of the soups to make the meal delicious. It is common knowledge that Nigerians especially the Igbos from the eastern part of the country, must have at least one foo foo meal in a day. This is why soups are very essential to Nigerian food recipes. All Nigerian soups can be served with Eba (Garri), Agidi, Amala, Semolina, Pounded Yam or Cassava Foo Foo.
How to cook the Nigerian Pepper Soup
The Nigerian Pepper soup is a popular Nigerian soup recipe. It is such a versatile recipe as it can be prepared with different types of meat and fish. Thus there is the Chicken Pepper Soup, the Cat Fish Pepper Soup (popularly known as Point and Kill), the Goat Meat Pepper Soup, the Cow Leg Pepper Soup and the Assorted Beef Pepper Soup.
People usually go to exclusive bars or restaurants to eat the Pepper Soup. This is because this Nigerian food recipe is believed to be prepared with 'secret' ingredients that only the restaurant Madams know about. Yes, the Pepper Soup ingredient which gives this recipe its unique aroma and taste, is truly the best kept secret. But our job here at All Nigerian Food Recipes is to expose all Nigerian food recipes and cooking secrets so that you can prepare them right inside your own kitchen whenever you want to.
Ingredients for Pepper Soup
- Cat Fish | Chicken | Goat Meat | Cow Leg | Assorted Beef - 1 kg
- Ehu –- 4 seeds
- Chilli Pepper –(to taste)
- Dry Uziza –- 2 teaspoons
- Onions –- 2 medium bulbs
- Crayfish - 2 tablespoons of ground Crayfish
- Salt -– to taste
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes & 1 teaspoon of Thyme
Before you cook the Nigerian Pepper Soup
- To prepare Cat Fish Pepper Soup, wash and cut the cat fish into 1-inch thick slices. Boil some hot water and pour on the pieces of fish to firm them up. This toughens the skin of the fish so that it does not fall apart during cooking.
- If preparing Chicken pepper Soup, it is preferable to use whole chicken instead of drumsticks. The different parts of the chicken will bring variety to the pepper soup. So wash and cut up the whole chicken and set aside.
- If you want to prepare Assorted Beef Pepper Soup then you should buy different parts of beef - best cut, offal (shaki, round-about, liver and kidney). Wash the offal thoroughly especially the round-about which should be turned inside out during the washing. Cut these into medium pieces, just big enough to be chewed in one go.
- For Goat Meat Pepper Soup and Cow Leg Pepper Soup, just wash and cut the goat meat or cow leg into medium pieces. In this case also, make the pieces just big enough that it can be chewed in one go.
- Now it is time to prepare the 'secret' ingredient. Using an old frying pan, roast the Ehu seeds (stirring constantly) till you can smell it. Don't worry you will know when it is OK to take it off because it has a distinctive aroma. Another way to know that it is OK is to take one of the seeds and try to remove the outer membrane. If the membrane comes off easily, then the Ehu is done.
- Peel off the membrane from all the Ehu seeds and grind with a dry mill.
- Cut the onions into tiny pieces.
- Rub the dry uziza with your fingers to break them into tiny pieces.
Cooking Directions
- This cooking direction describes Chicken Pepper Soup. To prepare Cat Fish Pepper Soup, Goat Meat Pepper Soup, Cow Leg Pepper Soup or Assorted Beef Pepper Soup just substitute chicken with cat fish, goat meat, cow leg or beef and offal respectively.
- Place the pieces of chicken in a pot and pour enough water to cover the contents of the pot. Add the stock cubes, thyme and onions and cook till done.
Note: When cooking Assorted Beef Pepper Soup, you should cook the shaki for sometime before adding the other beef parts. Shaki is tough and will take longer to cook than the other beef parts.
Cow leg is a tough meat part so when cooking Cow Leg Pepper Soup, you should use a pressure cooker if you have one. This will save you some gas or electricity.
- By now, you will notice that some of the water has dried. Add more water to bring it to the level of the contents of the pot.
- Add the ground Ehu, crayfish, dry uziza, chilli pepper and salt to taste. Ehu has some spicy taste so you should add chilli pepper with care. Even though it is called pepper soup, you still want to be able to taste and enjoy the recipe itself. Too much chilli pepper will ruin it for you.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. The pepper soup is ready.
- Pepper Soup should always be served hot. It can be eaten alone with a chilled drink by the side. You can also eat it with Agidi, White Rice or Boiled Yam.
The Nigerian Vegetable Soup Edikang Ikong
The Nigerian Edikang Ikong soup or simply Vegetable Soup is native to the Efiks, people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria. It is a general notion that the Edikang Ikong soup is very nutritious and this is very much so. Prepared with a generous quantity of pumpkin leaves and water leaves, this Nigerian soup recipe is nourishing in every sense of the word.
It is common for Nigerians to request this soup recipe after a bout of illness as we trust it to replenish whatever was lost during the sickness. But you do not need to be in a state of convalescence to enjoy this wholesome Nigerian food recipe.
Ingredients for Edikang Ikong Soup
- Pumpkin leaves | a big bunch
- Water leaves | even bigger bunch
- Beef, Kanda and Dry fish
- Pepper, Salt and ground Crayfish - to taste
- Palm oil | 30cl (about 1 small bottle of Coca Cola)
- Periwinkle - 1 cup
- Onions - 2 medium bulbs
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes
Before you cook the Edikaikong Soup
- Wash and cut the pumpkin and water leaves into tiny pieces. Put them in separate sieves to drain out all the water as much as possible.
- Cut the Kanda into small pieces. Cook the beef, kanda and the dry fish with the 2 bulbs of diced onions and the 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes with as little quantity of water as possible.
Cooking Directions
- When the meat is done, add a generous amount of palm oil, the crayfish and pepper and leave to boil for about 10 minutes. The palm oil serves as water in the Edikaikong soup. You should try as much as possible to make it the only liquid in the soup.
- Add the periwinkle and water leaves and leave to cook for another 5 minutes. You may have to cook for less time at this stage so that the water leaves are not over-cooked.
- Now add the pumpkin leaves and salt to taste. Stir the contents of the pot very well and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and leave to stand for about 5 minutes.
- The Edikang Ikong soup is ready to be served with Garri, Semolina, Amala or Pounded
Nigerian Afang Soup Recipe
The Nigerian Afang Soup, like the Edikang Ikong soup, is native to the Efiks, people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria but enjoyed by all Nigerians. It is also very nutritious as the soup consists mainly of vegetables. Afang Soup is prepared with a generous quantity of Water leaves and the wild herbal Okazi leaves.
The Nigerian Afang Soup should not be confused with the Okazi Soup native to the people of Imo and Abia States of Nigeria. While Afang soup is prepared with basically vegetables, Okazi Soup is simply the Nigerian Egusi Soup cooked with thinly sliced Okazi leaves.
Ingredients for Afang Soup
- Okazi leaves | 4 handfuls of sliced Okazi
- Water leaves | 1kg or a big bunch
- Palm oil | 30cl (about 1 small bottle of Coca Cola)
- Periwinkle - 1 cup
- Onions | 2 medium bulbs
- Beef, Kanda and Dry fish
- Pepper, Salt and Crayfish - to taste
- Stock Cubes (Maggi or Knorr) | 3 cubes
Before you cook the Nigerian Afang Soup
- Wash, drain and slice the water leaves into tiny pieces. Grind or pound the sliced Okazi leaves. In Nigerian markets, the sellers of these sliced Okazi leaves have a machine for grinding it. You can also grind it with your blender with a small quantity of water. Take a look at the ground Okazi leaves.
- Grind your pepper and crayfish and cut the onions into tiny pieces.
Cooking Directions
- Boil the beef and Kanda with the diced onions and stock cubes in a very small quantity of water. When done, add the dry fish and cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Now add the palm oil, crayfish and pepper. Once it starts boiling, add the Okazi leaves, water leaves and periwinkle. When the periwinkle is done, add salt to taste and there's your Afang soup!
- Serve with Garri (Eba), Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
How to cook Banga Soup
The Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta areas, Banga soup is commonly eaten with various foo foo recipes – Pounded Yam, Semolina, Garri and Cassava Foo Foo. In the South Eastern parts of Nigeria, Banga Soup is referred to as Ofe Akwu where Ofe means Soup / Stew and Akwu means palm fruit and is used mainly as stew for the White Rice recipe.
The palm fruit oil extract used in cooking Banga Soup / Stew is quite different from the Palm Oil used in cooking Nigerian food recipes. Palm Oil is pure oil extracted from the palm fruit pulp at high temperatures while the palm fruit oil extract used for the Banga Soup is extracted at a very low temperature and is a mixture of oil and water. Palm fruit oil extracted for Banga Soup contains less saturated fat than palm oils.
Ingredients for Banga Soup
- Palm Fruits – 1 kg
- Beef
- Dry Fish
- Vegetable – Scent Leaves
- Onions – 2 medium bulbs
- Crayfish – A handful | 2 tablespoons of ground Crayfish
- Salt and Chilli Pepper – to taste
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes
Before you cook the Nigerian Banga Soup
- Wash and cook the palm fruits till done. A good sign that the palm fruit is done is that you will notice cracks on the flesh of the fruits. The palm fruit is also soft to the bite.
- Pound the palm fruits in a mortar with a pestle till all the flesh are separated from the nut to form a smooth pulp as shown in the photo.
- Cook the beef and the dry fish with 1 bulb of diced onion and the 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes till done.
- While you have the beef cooking, extract the palm fruit oil from the palm fruit pulp by washing it in warm water. Small quantities of the palm fruit pulp should be washed in as small quantity of warm water as possible. If the palm fruit oil starts getting too thick, pour the liquid into another container through a sieve to prevent the palm fruit fibres from entering into the oil that will be used in cooking the Banga Soup. Repeat this till all the palm fruit pulp has been washed.
A more efficient extraction process can be achieved by separating the palm nuts from the pulp before washing the pulp in warm water.
During the extraction process, if you think that there is still some oil on previously washed palm fruit pulp; re-wash these when you change the water before washing new palm fruit pulp.
Water should be used sparingly during the extraction process so that at the end, the extracted liquid will have the consistency of evaporated milk or tomato juice bearing in mind that you still have to add the beef stock.
- Leave the extracted palm fruit oil to stand for some time then slowly pour this into the pot that will be used to cook the Banga Soup / Stew, taking care not to pour the tiny pieces of fibre that have settled at the bottom.
- Wash and cut the scent leaves into tiny pieces. The scent leaves are what gives the Banga Soup its unique aroma and taste. If you are outside Nigeria, this may be hard to find, so you can use pumpkin leaves or any other vegetable in place of scent leaves.
- Cut the remaining bulb of onion, grind the crayfish and pepper and set aside.
Cooking Directions
- Set the pot of palm fruit oil on the stove and start cooking at high heat. Leave to boil till you notice come clear oil at the surface of the Banga Stew. If you think that the Banga Soup is watery, cook till the soup has thickened to the consistency you like for your stews.
- Now, add the beef, dry fish and stock, the onions, crayfish and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the scent leaves and salt to taste. Leave to cook for 2 mins. The Banga Soup is done. Serve with White Rice or use the Banga Soup to eat Garri, Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
How to cook Ora (Oha) Soup
Ora (Oha) soup is native to the South Eastern Nigeria. It is a very traditional soup similar to the bitterleaf soup but cooked with Ora leaves. Ora (Oha) Soup is special because the tender ora leaves used in preparing this soup recipe are seasonal unlike their bitterleaf counterpart which can be found all year round. Though it is only the vegetable that distinguishes the Ora Soup and the Bitterleaf Soup, they taste so different that it is hard to believe the difference just one ingredient can make in a recipe.
Ingredients for Ora (Oha) Soup
- Vegetable - Ora leaves
- Cocoyam – 8 corms
- Red Palm Oil – 3 cooking spoons
- Assorted Beef – Includes best cut, shaki (cow tripe)
- Assorted Fish – Dry Fish and Stock Fish
- Chilli Pepper, Salt and Crayfish (to taste)
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi or Knorr cubes
Before you cook the Nigerian Ora Soup
- Grind the crayfish and pepper and set aside.
- Wash and boil the cocoyam corms till soft. Remove the peels and use a mortar and pestle to pound the corms to a smooth paste.
- Using your fingers, cut the Ora (Oha) leaves into tiny pieces. This technique is to prevent the vegetable from becoming darker in colour. This happens when you cut the ora leaves with a knife.
Cooking Directions
- Boil the shaki (cow tripe), stock fish and dry fish in 1 litre of water till they are well done. First sign of a done shaki is that the cuts will start curling on itself.
- Wash the beef and add to the pot of shaki etc. and continue cooking. When the meat is done, add 3 cubes of Maggi/Knorr and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pepper and ground crayfish and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cocoyam paste in small lumps and then the palm oil.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook on high heat till all the cocoyam lumps have dissolved. You can add more water if you feel that the soup is too thick.
- Add the ora (oha) leaves and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add salt to taste and the soup is ready to be served with Eba, Foo Foo, Semolina or Amala.
How to Cook Nigerian Egusi Soup
The Nigerian Egusi soup, prepared with melon seeds, is native to the southern part of Nigeria - Igbos and Yorubas.
Nigerian Egusi Soup Recipe [Video]
Egusi soup is also one of the most popular soups for all Nigerians and non-Nigerians that like Nigerian fufu recipes.
Ingredients
- Egusi (Melon) seeds - 3 cigar cups | 600g
- Red Palm Oil – 2 cooking spoons
- Beef – Best cut and Shaki (cow tripe)
- Fish – Dry Fish and Stock Fish
- Crayfish
- Pepper and Salt to taste
- Vegetable – Pumpkin leaves or Bitter leaf
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi or Knorr cubes
- Traditional Seasoning – 1 Okpei (optional)
Before you cook Egusi Soup
Before preparing the soup, soak the dry fish for about half an hour. Boil the stockfish for 20 minutes and leave in the pot with the hot water to soak for about an hour.
Much closer to your cooking time, grind the Egusi with a dry mill. Grind the crayfish and the dry pepper separately and set aside. Wash the vegetable to be used. Cut into tiny pieces.
Boil the shaki, stock fish and dry fish in 1 litre of water till they are well done. First sign of a done shaki is that the cuts will start curling on itself.
Wash the beef to be used for the soup and place in a pot and start steaming at medium heat. There is no need to add water at this stage. When the meat is done, add 3 cubes of Maggi/Knorr. This method makes the meat cook faster while retaining all the taste. Also meat contains lots of water and you will notice that the water content increases as the meat starts to boil.
Cooking Directions
There are two main methods of cooking egusi soup. These we will call
oil before egusi and
egusi before oil. Confusing? Not.
Oil Before Egusi
- Put 2 cooking spoons of red palm oil into a dry pot and set on the stove to heat. As soon as the oil is clearer, add the ground egusi and start frying. This should be done at low heat to avoid burning. Keep frying till you see the egusi getting drier. One sign of this is that it will start sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Now, start adding the shaki/fish stock little by little while still turning the egusi. When the stock is exhausted and you feel that the soup is still too thick, you can add more water. If your choice of vegetable is bitterleaf, it should be added now as well.
- Cover the pot and cook for 30 to 45 minutes. The egusi is done when you notice that the oil has risen to the surface of the mix and separated from the mix. If this is the case, add the fish, shaki and meat. Also add pepper and salt to taste. If pumpkin leaves (or any other soft vegetable) is your choice, please add it now.
- Cover the pot and leave everything to steam together for 5 minutes.
The egusi soup is ready to be served with
amala,
Eba (garri),
pounded yam or
cassava foo foo.
Egusi Before Oil
This method produces a healthier egusi soup. This is because there is no frying involved.
- In this method, as soon as the shaki, fish and meat are done, remove them from the stock and place in a different pot or plate.
- Add the ground egusi to the stock and cook for 40 minutes. You will notice the clear egusi oil coming to the surface of the soup.
- Add 2 cooking spoons of red palm oil, the meat, fish, bitter leaves (if it is your choice of vegetable) pepper and salt to taste and cook for another 10 minutes. Now, add the pumpkin leaves if is your choice of vegetables, stir the soup and turn off the heat.
The egusi soup is ready to be served with
amala,
Eba (garri),
pounded yam or
cassava foo foo.
How to cook Bitterleaf Soup
Bitterleaf soup is one of the most traditional soups in Nigeria. The name is quite misleading in that a well prepared Bitterleaf Soup should not have even the faintest bitterness. This is achieved by washing and squeezing the bitter leaves (and changing the water at intervals) till all traces of bitterness has been washed off.
One will be deemed a bad cook if his/her Bitterleaf soup tastes bitter!
Ingredients
- Vegetable - Washed and squeezed bitterleaf
- Cocoyam – 8 corms
- Red Palm Oil – 3 cooking spoons
- Assorted Beef – Includes best cut, shaki (cow tripe)
- Assorted Fish – Dry Fish and Stock Fish
- Pepper, Salt and Ground Crayfish (to taste)
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi or Knorr cubes
Before you cook Bitterleaf Soup
- Make sure that the bitter leaves are well washed, such that there is no trace of bitterness left. If not, wash and squeeze it more. If the bitterness cannot be completely washed off (which is usually the case with most washed bitter leaves sold in the market), boil it for about 15 minutes and wash in cold water.
- Wash and cook the cocoyam till soft. Remove the peels and use a mortar and pestle to pound the corms to a smooth paste (as shown).
Cooking Directions
- Boil the shaki (cow tripe), stock fish and dry fish in 1 litre of water till they are well done. First sign of a done shaki is that the cuts will start curling on itself.
- Wash the beef and add to the pot of shaki etc. and continue cooking. When the meat is done, add 3 cubes of Maggi/Knorr and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add pepper, ground crayfish, bitter leaves (if they have not been parboiled) and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the cocoyam paste (in small lumps) and the palm oil then go to step 5.
Note: If the bitter leaves were parboiled to remove the bitterness, then for step 3; add pepper, ground crayfish, the cocoyam paste (in small lumps), the bitter leaves and the palm oil. In other words, add all the ingredients at this stage.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook on high heat till all the cocoyam lumps have dissolved. You can add more water if you feel that the soup is too thick.
- Add salt to taste and the soup is ready to be served with Eba, Foo Foo, Semolina or Amala.
How to cook Okra Soup
Okra Soup is one of the quick and easy Nigerian soups to prepare. Some argue that a lot of work goes to the cutting of the two vegetables used in preparing this recipe. Yes but once the vegetables are ready; it cooks in no time at all.
Kiddies Okra Soup is a simpler version of this recipe and kids simply love it!
Ingredients
- Okra – 250g
- Red Palm Oil – 3 cooking spoons
- Beef – Best cut
- Shaki - Cow Tripe (Optional)
- Fish – Iced Fish, Dry Fish, Stock Fish
- Crayfish
- Pepper and Salt to taste
- Onions - Optional
- Vegetable – Pumpkin leaves or Spinach (Washed & Frozen)
- Seasoning – 3 Maggi/Knorr cubes
Before you cook Okra Soup
About two hours before preparing the soup, boil the stockfish for 20 minutes and leave in the pot with the hot water to soak.
Cut the okra fingers into tiny pieces. To achieve this, you need to make a few vertical cuts followed by horizontal cuts on the okra fingers. Grind the crayfish and the dry pepper. Wash the pumpkin leaves, if it is your choice of vegetable, and cut into tiny pieces. If you will use frozen spinach, defrost and cut into tiny pieces.
Cooking Directions
- If you will use shaki (cow tripe) for the soup, wash and boil till it is done. Add water sparingly because this soup needs to be thick. Add the soaked stockfish and dry fish to the cooked shaki. The length of time it will take to cook shaki depends on the cooking appliance utilized. You can take a bite to confirm this. The first sign of a well-done shaki is that the cuts will start curling on itself. When you are happy that the shaki and stock fish are well-done, add ground crayfish and pepper and steam for 5 minutes. Then set aside.
- Wash the beef to be used for the soup and place in a pot, add some onions (optional) and start steaming. There is no need to add any water at this stage. Boil the meat for about 10 minutes and add seasoning (Maggi or Knorr cubes) then continue cooking. When the meat is done, add iced fish (if you will use iced fish) and two pinches of salt. Continue steaming for 5 mins. Then set aside.
- Pour red palm oil in another pot and heat the pot to dissolve the oil if it is congealed. Add the diced okra and start frying, add some meat stock from time to time till you notice the okra start to draw. This process should take a maximum of 5 mins to avoid over-cooking the okra.
- Now add the shaki stock, meat stock, pumpkin leaves and salt to taste. Then stir well. Cover the cooking pot and turn off the cooker. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Soup is ready!
PS: Shaki, Meat, Dry Fish, Ice Fish and Stock Fish must not all be used at the same time in preparing the okra soup recipe. If you can, by all means use all as they will add to the flavour. But if not, an okra soup prepared with only iced fish can equally taste good. So don't go and break the bank because of a pot of soup!
Onions is optional because while some people cannot bear the smell/taste of onions in okra soup, others are like "Okra soup without onions? No Way!"
So feel free to add and subtract ingredients but the minimum ingredients that make an okra soup are:
How to cook Nigerian Nsala Soup (White Soup)
Nsala soup or White Soup is a tasty, fast and easy soup recipe that has its origins in the riverine areas of Nigeria.
Ingredients
- Cat Fish
- Utazi Leaves (crongromena ratifolia)
- Raw White Yam / Yam Powder / Potato Puree - Thickner
- Chilli Pepper, Salt and Ground Crayfish (to taste)
- Seasoning – 3 cubes of Maggi / Knorr and Ogiri Okpei (Nigerian traditional seasoning)
Before you cook Nsala Soup
Cut the catfish into 1 inch thick cylindrical discs and remove the intestines. Place in bowl. Pour hot water on the fish to remove the slimy substance on the outer skin. Leave for 2 minutes and wash the fish with cold water. This process of pouring hot water also toughens the fish so that the pieces do not dissolve while cooking the soup.
Boil a few cubes of raw white yam. When soft, pound with a mortar and pestle till a smooth paste is formed, then set aside. You can substitute white yam with yam powder or potato puree for the thickening.
Wash and cut the utazi leaves into tiny shreds. Blend the chilli pepper, the crayfish and the shredded utazi leaves and set aside. Utazi is bitter in taste and only used for flavouring so one or two leaves should be enough.
Cooking Directions
- Place the catfish in a pot and pour enough water to cover the fish. Add the seasoning and cook till done. Feel free to add beef and dry fish to this soup recipe.
- When the catfish is done, add the crayfish, pepper and utazi leaves blend. Also add the yam paste in small lumps and salt to taste.
Note: Catfish is what makes Nsala soup what it is, giving it the unique taste that it has, therefore it cannot be substituted with any other kind of fish.
- Cover the pot and allow the contents to cook at high heat till all the yam paste have dissolved. While cooking, if you think that the yam paste will make the soup too thick, you can remove some that are yet to dissolve.
- The Nigerian Nsala Soup is ready to be served with Amala, Eba (Garri), Yam Foo Foo, Semolina etc.
- Palm Oil
- Beef/Iced or Dry Fish
- Crayfish
- Pepper and Salt (to taste)
- Vegetable
- Seasoning
Fluted pumpkin leaves are the best for okra soup but for those outside Nigeria, this may be hard to come by so you can use spinach. But make sure it is the washed and frozen one (see photo). This works better than the fresh and leafy spinach as far as the Okra Soup recipe is concerned.
Serve with Eba (Garri), Foo Foo, Semolina, Pounded Yam or Amala.
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