Pepper soup

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.2 kggoat, cut into pieces on the bone
• or 1 kg catfish, in steaks
• or 1 chicken, jointed

Spices

• 2 tbsppepper soup spice mix
• 1 tspgrains of selim, hwentia, crushed
• 1 tspehu, calabash nutmeg, ground
• 1 tspuda pods, ground
• 1 tspcountry pepper

Aromatics

• 2onions, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3cm ginger
• 4habanero or country peppers
• 2stock cubes
• salt

Broth

• 2 litreswater

To finish

• 1 bunchscent leaf or basil
• 1 bunchcoriander

To serve

• on its own, with bread, or with boiled yam

Directions

1. Wash the meat thoroughly, rubbing it with salt and rinsing until the water runs clear. If using goat, scrape the skin and singe off any remaining hair over a flame.
2. Toast the whole spices briefly in a dry pan until fragrant, then grind them. Toasting the pods and seeds before grinding wakes them up considerably, and it takes two minutes.
3. Blend the onions, garlic, ginger and peppers into a paste. Put the meat in a pot with the blended aromatics, the ground spices, stock cubes and salt.
4. Add the spices at the start rather than the end, because they need the full cooking time to give up their flavour into the broth. Pour in the water, bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Skim the foam carefully in the first fifteen minutes. Skim it properly.
5. Simmer goat for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, chicken for 40 minutes. For fish, make the broth first with the aromatics and spices, simmer it 30 minutes, then add the fish for the last 10 minutes only.
6. Taste and adjust the heat, and expect it to be genuinely fierce. Tear the scent leaf and coriander in for the last 3 minutes. Add the fresh leaves at the very end, because boiled long they blacken and lose their scent entirely. The finished broth should be thin, clear, deeply aromatic and very hot.
7. Serve it steaming in bowls, on its own, or with a piece of boiled yam or bread. That restorative reputation is a folk belief rather than a documented effect, though a bowl of fiercely hot clear broth does what hot clear broths do.

Technique

• Goat, catfish, chicken and assorted offal are all standard.
• The spice mix varies by country and household and is the thing people are particular about.
• It is also given to new mothers in parts of the region as a strengthening food.

Substitutions

• Ready-made pepper soup spice mix, which is genuinely convenient.
• Any firm fish, or chicken on the bone.

Variations

• Made with catfish, which is the classic fish version.
• With assorted offal, as a fuller soup.
• Nkwobi-style, with cow foot, cooked much longer.

History

A fiery clear broth of goat, fish or chicken with country pepper and bush spices, eaten late at night and as a restorative.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pepper soup?

Pepper soup is a soup & stew from Liberia: fiery clear broth of goat or fish with country peppers. A fiery clear broth of goat, fish or chicken with country pepper and bush spices, eaten late at night and as a restorative.

How long does Pepper soup take to make?

Pepper soup takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pepper soup?

Yes, within limits. Ready-made pepper soup spice mix, which is genuinely convenient. Any firm fish, or chicken on the bone.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pepper soup?

Toast the whole spices briefly in a dry pan until fragrant, then grind them. Toasting the pods and seeds before grinding wakes them up considerably, and it takes two minutes.