Potato Pepper Soup
Overview
Potato pepper soup is a West African pepper soup built on potato rather than meat or fish, hot, thin, aromatic and quick. Pepper soup is a category rather than a single recipe, and what defines it is the spice blend rather than the main ingredient. The essential component is calabash nutmeg, called ehuru or ehu in Nigeria, a seed with a warm, camphorous aroma quite unlike ordinary nutmeg. Alongside it sit uda, uziza seed and other aromatics, ground together into the mixture sold across Nigeria simply as pepper soup spice. That blend is what makes any pepper soup taste like pepper soup, whether the pot contains goat meat, catfish, chicken or, as here, potato. The broth stays thin deliberately. There is no thickener and no palm oil, so the aromatics and the chilli have nowhere to hide, and the heat is meant to be genuine. It is frequently eaten when someone has a cold, on much the same reasoning as Ghanaian light soup. The vegetarian version is an unusual thing in the pepper soup family and makes a quick, light meal.
AFN Heritage Note
Pepper soup is defined by its spice blend rather than its main ingredient. The characteristic aromatic is calabash nutmeg, ehuru or ehu, used with uda and uziza seed, and the same blend underpins goat, fish and chicken versions across West Africa.
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
Peel the Irish Potatoes, rinse and cut into medium cubes.
- 2
Cut the fish head and tail into sizeable chunks.
- 3
Cut the habanero pepper into medium pieces.
- 4
Cut each mushroom into 2 parts.
- 5
Grind the ehu.
- 6
Cut the onion into into thin slices along the bulb. This is so that when they heat up, they will add body to the pepper soup.
- 7
Cut the scent leaves into tiny pieces.
- 8
Pour a small quantity of water into a clean pot and set on the stove.
- 9
The water should just cover the bottom of the pot. Apply medium heat.
- 10
Add the ground ehu, black pepper and stock cube (crushed).Stir and gently place the pieces of fish in the pot.
- 11
Once the bottom heats up, turn the fish around so that all sides will get some heating and become tough.
- 12
.When the fish is well heated all over, remove them from the pot and add the potatoes.
- 13
Add water to cover the potatoes, add the bay leaves and start cooking on high heat till the potatoes are cooked but not soft.
- 14
Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
- 15
Add the fish (gently), the onions and habanero pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
- 16
Then take out the fish again and add salt to taste. Note: we add the fish, take it out, add, take it out etc so that it does not scatter.
- 17
Stir to make sure everything is incorporated.
Africook’s Notes
- Buy or grind a proper pepper soup spice blend. Ordinary nutmeg is not a substitute for calabash nutmeg.
- Keep the broth thin. No thickener, no palm oil, that is what makes it pepper soup rather than a stew.
- Add the potato in large pieces so it holds together rather than breaking into the broth.
- Toast the spice blend briefly before the liquid goes in to bring the aromatics forward.
Reviews
Be the first to rate this recipe
Cooked it? Your rating helps the next person decide whether to try it.
No reviews on this one yet. If you have cooked it, yours would be the first.
You Might Also Like
Browse all Nigerian recipes →
Edo Black Soup
Nigerian Fisherman Soup
Igbo Yam Porridge
