Nigerian Chicken Pepper Soup
Overview
Nigerian chicken pepper soup is a thin, clear, peppery broth. You cook chicken with onion, pepper soup spice and hot pepper, then finish it with scent leaf. To cook chicken pepper soup, you boil the cut up chicken in about 6 cups of water with onion, salt and seasoning. Add the spice once it boils. Then simmer until the chicken is tender. This version is made with chicken. There's nothing in the pot for body, so the flavour comes from the spice blend and the stock the chicken gives up. That's why many cooks reach for a hard chicken, an older laying hen rather than a young broiler, for its deeper stock. The spice blend is built on ehuru, also called ehiri or calabash nutmeg, with uziza seed and uda. Scent leaf goes in right at the end for its smell. Pepper soup is what people are given when they're unwell. You'll find it in bars as often as in home kitchens, eaten on its own or with rice, agidi, yam or unripe plantain.
AFN Heritage Note
Pepper soup belongs to the southern Nigerian tradition of clear spiced broths built on ehuru, the calabash nutmeg of the Monodora myristica tree, with uziza seed and uda. The blend's composition varies regionally, and the soup is documented as being served to people recovering from illness and to women after childbirth.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Place the washed and cut up chicken in a pot.
- 2
Add about 6 cups of water, the chopped onions, salt and the seasoning cubes, and bring to a boil.
- 3
When the pot comes to a boil, add the pepper soup spice.
- 4
Cook until the chicken is tender, then lower the heat.
- 5
Add the chopped scent leaves and the palm oil if using. Simmer for about a minute, then turn off the heat.
- 6
Serve on its own, or with white rice, boiled unripe plantain or boiled yam.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Amarachi Irobi- Use a hard chicken, meaning an older hen rather than a young broiler. It takes longer to cook and yields a considerably better stock, which is where the depth of a pepper soup comes from.
- Scent leaf goes in at the very end. Its aroma is volatile and several minutes of cooking removes most of what it was added for.
- Never use mint in place of scent leaf. They are unrelated plants and mint will make the soup inedible. Parsley is the safe fallback, though it adds little.
- Too much spice blend makes the broth bitter. If that happens, add more water rather than trying to season around it.
- It freezes for one to two months. Thaw completely and reheat gently on the hob rather than in a microwave, which makes it spit.
Questions cooks ask
What are the ingredients for chicken pepper soup?
You need a 1.5kg whole chicken cut up, a large onion and a tablespoon of pepper soup spice. For heat, use half to one tablespoon of Cameroon pepper or two habaneros. Then add a tablespoon of bouillon powder or two seasoning cubes, salt and two or three scent leaves. Ground crayfish and two tablespoons of palm oil are optional.
What is ehuru and can I substitute it?
Ehuru, also called ehiri or calabash nutmeg, is the seed of the Monodora myristica tree, and it's what makes pepper soup taste like pepper soup. Ordinary nutmeg comes from a different tree and doesn't taste the same, so there's no real substitute. Nigerian grocers sell it whole or ground.
Why is my pepper soup bitter?
Usually there's too much spice blend in the pot, or it's been cooking too long on high heat. Add more water or stock and turn the heat right down. More salt won't fix it, and neither will more of anything else.
Should I buy a pepper soup spice mix or make my own?
This recipe assumes a ready ground mix, and plenty of good cooks use one. Others swear by toasting and grinding ehuru, uziza seed and uda themselves. Try a mix first, then grind your own if you want to taste the difference.
Can I use mint instead of scent leaf in pepper soup?
No. Scent leaf is a kind of basil, and mint tastes nothing like it, so it will spoil the soup. If you can't find scent leaf, parsley is the safe fallback, though it adds little.
Can I freeze chicken pepper soup?
Yes, it freezes for one to two months. Thaw it completely and reheat it gently on the hob rather than in the microwave, where it tends to spit.
Do I need palm oil in chicken pepper soup?
No, it's optional. Pepper soup is meant to be a clear broth. If you want palm oil, this recipe uses just two tablespoons, stirred in with the scent leaf at the end.
Reviews
5 reviews
You Might Also Like
Browse all Nigerian recipes →
Edo Black Soup
Nigerian Fisherman Soup
Igbo Yam Porridge
Had to trek down to an African store on City Road in Cardiff just to find the proper pepper soup spice mix. So worth it though. The smell when you add the spice to the boiling broth is amazing. I used the full tablespoon of pepper which was a bit too fiery for me, so I'll drop to half next time.
Fascinating method, I'm used to sautéing chopped onions in oil first for Indian gravies, so adding raw onions straight into six cups of water with the chicken felt unusual! It created a really light, medicinal broth though. Used two scotch bonnets instead of Cameroon pepper. Lovely heat.
Finding actual nchanwu in Minneapolis during winter is impossible abeg. I ended up getting Thai basil from the Hmong market in St Paul and it did the trick. Used halal hard chicken from the Somali shop so it took longer to boil than normal chicken, but e sweet o.
e sweet well well! Adding the nchanwu right at the end for just one minute is the proper way, keeps the fresh aroma alive. Personally I skip the palm oil because I like my chicken pepper soup light and clear, but this recipe is solid.
Nyama was so tender after simmering. Couldn't find nchanwu here in Nairobi so I used standard basil instead, but the warmth from the Cameroon pepper made it so poa for rainy weather.