How to make Pepper Soup with Big mama Spices

The rains are here and COVID19 has kept almost everyone indoors, so there is no better time to have Pepper Soup than now.

Nigerian Pepper Soup is a light but spicy broth simmered for long with a variety of meat or fish flavoured with unique aromatic African spices like Calabash nutmeg (ehuru seeds), cayenne pepper or red pepper, fennel seeds, ginger, alligator pepper, uda seeds, uziza seed/leaf, gbafilo seeds, umilo seeds, scent leaf, etc. In recent times however, the ethnic spices (Uda, ehuru, umilo and gbafilo) are now mixed together to form something called ‘Pepper Soup mix’.

Pepper Soup has many benefits. It is a great relief for cold or fever. It’s low in carbs and can rev up a lost appetite.You don’t want a bland or boring Pepper Soup, so here is your Bigmama twist to achieving a simply delicious Pepper Soup.

Bigmama would be sharing with you a recipe that can be used for different Pepper Soup varieties; Assorted meat(Offals) Pepper Soup, Chicken Pepper Soup, Goat Meat Pepper Soup, Fish Pepper Soup and Seafood Pepper Soup.

Assorted meat is a term used to describe different cuts of meat from the internal organs. You can choose any of the organs according to personal taste; Shaki (Tripe), Cow leg, Liver, Kidney, Heart, Intestines(locally called roundabout), etc.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• 600g assorted meat or Chicken/Goat meat/Fish/Seafood or any meat of choice    
• 2-4 Scotch Bonnet thinly chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Pepper Soup spice(Ehuru, Uda, Umilo and Gbafilo)
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1/2 Inch Ginger Root (optional)
• I teaspoon Uziza Seeds (blended)
• 1 tablespoon Crayfish    
• 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (Ata gun gun)
• 3 Tablespoons Dry or fresh Efinrin/ Basil/ leaves OR Utazi Leaves. (Fresh leaves give a better zing)
• 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper or Cameroon Pepper, or even Alligator Pepper 
• BigMama seasoning powder (any flavour of choice)
• Onions       
• Salt to taste

Wash your meat thoroughly, cut into bite sizes then transfer into a pot. Remember to boil Offals like Kidney, Liver, Heart, etc separately. 

Add Bigmama seasoning (any flavour of choice), salt, blended/Chopped Garlic, Onions, Scotch Bonnet Pepper and Ginger.

Do not add any water. 

Allow it to cook in its own broth for 20 minutes or till soft.

Add water to cover the meat completely and then add the Pepper Soup spices –  black pepper/Cameroon pepper, blended Uziza seed and crayfish. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the scent leaves and or Utazi leaves cover and leave for 2-3 minutes.

Your Pepper soup is ready to be served.

You can serve Pepper Soup with any of the following – Bread, Baguette, Boiled Rice, Boiled yam, Boiled Plantain, etc or you can eat it alone. With Pepper Soup made with Bigmama seasoning powder, the possibilities are simply endless

NOTE: Pepper Soup is naturally expected to be spicy so feel free to experiment with whatever type of Pepper you want (e.g. Paprika, Habanero Pepper, Black or White Pepper, etc.).

Also, Scent leaves and Utazi leaves are native to Nigeria but they can be substituted with Basil leaf or Parsley leaf.

Trying this recipe will definitely elevate your Pepper Soup game from 1 to 100. Do send us pictures and videos when you recreate this recipe to @Bigmamaspices on any social media platform for a chance to get featured.