Pepper Soup

Nigerian Catfish Pepper Soup

A light, intensely aromatic broth from Nigeria, traditionally sipped as a restorative starter or hangover cure. The catfish stays silky while the broth turns fiery from fresh scotch bonnet and fragrant with native pepper soup spice and scent leaf.

Prep

15 min

Cook

25 min

Total

40 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •700 g (1½ lb) fresh catfish fillets or steaks, skin on, bone-in if possible for flavour
• •1.2 L (5 cups) cold water
• •30 g (¼ cup) fresh ginger, smashed and sliced
• •4 cloves garlic, smashed
• •1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
• •15 g (3 tbsp) pepper soup spice (iyere), whole blend of uziza seeds, ehuru, uda, gbafilo and grains of Selim; substitute a mix of equal parts crushed calabash nutmeg and alligator pepper plus 1 tsp dried thyme if unavailable
• •2 whole scotch bonnet chillies, left whole for mild heat, slit for medium, crushed for very hot; remove seeds to tame
• •1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• •1 tsp ground dried crayfish, optional but traditional, adds umami depth
• •25 g (1 cup loosely packed) fresh scent leaf (effinrin/nchuanwu), substitute 10 fresh basil leaves plus 2 fresh mint sprigs if unavailable
• •1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice, added at the end to brighten the broth

Steps

1. 1 Rinse the catfish under cold water and cut into 5 cm (2 in) pieces. Set aside.
2. 2 Pour the cold water into a heavy pot and add the ginger, garlic, onion, pepper soup spice, whole scotch bonnet, salt and ground crayfish if using. Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady medium simmer and cook for 10 minutes so the spices infuse the water.
3. 3 Taste the broth; it should already taste hot, earthy and aromatic. Adjust salt now.
4. 4 Slide the catfish pieces into the simmering broth. Cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily when pressed with a spoon. Internal temperature should read 63 °C (145 °F) on an instant-read thermometer. Do not boil hard or the fish will break apart.
5. 5 Stir in the scent leaf and lime juice, simmer 1 minute more, then taste once more for salt and heat.
6. 6 Ladle the fish and broth into bowls, making sure each serving gets a piece of scotch bonnet if you want the full sinus-clearing experience. Serve very hot, with more lime wedges on the side and boiled yam, plantain or white rice if desired. Traditionally eaten with the hands, sipping the broth directly from the bowl.