Goat Meat Pepper Soup
Overview
Pepper soup is a Nigerian category rather than a single recipe, and the goat meat version is among the most eaten of them. What holds the family together is the broth: clear, thin, aggressively hot and built on a specific spice blend rather than on tomato, oil or thickener. Nothing in a pepper soup is there for body. The spice blend is what makes it. Pepper soup spice varies by region and by household but is built around African nutmeg, ehuru, uziza seed and other aromatics, and it is the one ingredient that cannot be left out or approximated. Everything else in the bowl is variable: catfish in the Delta and Rivers, goat in the north, chicken as the widely available option, assorted meat where a household is feeding a crowd. Goat gives it a depth the lighter proteins do not. It also demands time, which is why this is not a weeknight soup unless the meat was cooked the night before or a pressure pot is involved. Pepper soup occupies a particular place in Nigerian life as restorative food, eaten when someone is unwell, cold or worn out at the end of a day, and it is served both as a first course and as a full meal with yam, plantain or rice.
AFN Heritage Note
Pepper soup belongs to the southern Nigerian tradition of clear spiced broths built on a blend that includes African nutmeg, known as ehuru, and uziza seed. 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 chopped goat meat in a pot.
- 2
Add the minced scotch bonnet peppers, chopped onion and one seasoning cube.
- 3
Sprinkle the ground pepper soup spice and chilli pepper over the meat.
- 4
Mix well so the meat is coated with the spices, then set over medium heat and let the meat cook in its own juices for about 5 minutes, stirring once.
- 5
Add enough water to cover the goat meat.
- 6
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot partially so steam can escape, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the goat is tender.
- 7
Stir in the ground crayfish, then add the chopped uziza leaves and stir.
- 8
Ladle into bowls and serve hot.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Deborah Olayiwola- Let the meat sweat in its own juices for the first five minutes before any water goes in. This is where the spice gets into the meat rather than staying in the broth.
- Too much pepper soup spice turns the broth bitter. If that happens, add more water or stock and bring the heat down rather than trying to season around it.
- A pressure cooker takes goat from forty minutes to about fifteen. Alternatively boil the meat the night before, which is what most households do when they want this on a weekday.
- Shoulder and shank are the right cuts. Both carry the connective tissue that yields a good broth over a long simmer.
- Bitter leaf or parsley will stand in for uziza. Grind or mince the onion if you would rather not see pieces of it in a clear broth.
Reviews
4 reviews
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Used 500g of goat shoulder cut into cubes. The 2 tablespoons of chilli pepper on top of 3 scotch bonnets made it far too hot to drink comfortably, I had to pour in another 300ml of water to calm the burn down. Good flavour from the ground crayfish though, lekker warm soup once stretched out.
The scent leaf gives a slightly different kick than uziza oo, but this recipe came out so good paa. Letting the goat simmer in its own juices with the pepper soup spice before pouring the water makes the broth so rich. Chale 3 scotch bonnets was fiery though!
Ah, letting the goat sweat in the minced scotch bonnet and onion for that first 5 minutes made all the difference sha. E sweet bad! I added one extra pepper because pepper soup is not proper pepper soup if your eyes are not watering o.
could not get fresh uziza anywhere so used parsley like suggested. bought good halved goat chops from the halal butcher on Stapleton Road. ground crayfish gave the broth such a rich depth. reminded me of cold evenings back home.