How To Cook Nigerian White Soup

A serving of  Nigerian white soup.
How to make Nigerian white soup

To begin with, this Nigerian  white soup was so good! Because of the hot leaf (Uziza), I reduced the quantity of pepper and that made everyone, including the children, really eat well.
I can’t eat white soup with eba or semo unless I make it slimy with pounded boiled  cocoyam instead of yam as thickener.
Serving this dish for lunch is the greatest gift you can give him, * wink*  especially on weekends.

Before the recipe, let me share this short white soup story first; I remember in 2010, a colleague asked me to write out the recipe for this soup for her. She could no longer stand her husband coming home  with stories…  How he enjoys a particular soup called white soup at a restaurant close to his office. He even told her that he looked forward to lunch breaks just to go enjoy white soup with pounded yam.

MY RECIPE FOR NIGERIAN WHITE SOUP

I gave her the recipe.  That very weekend, she cooked white soup without informing him. He was served his lunch as usual while she continued to look with the corner of her eye.

With the first  morsel of fufu in his mouth, he suddenly sprang up “This is the soup I have been telling you about, how did you get it”? That day was the end of white soup stories in Mrs Lawal’s family.

She  hid the recipe in her kitchen, and looked forward to Monday, just to give me the gist.
White soup is now her family’s favorite, and she never forgets to thank me for that white soup recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR MY NIGERIAN WHITE SOUP:

1 kg Meat (preferably goat meat)

  • 2 medium sized Smoked catfish
  • 1 Stock fish pack (Optional)
  • 2 little slices of boiled yam for  thickening
  • A handful chopped uziza leaves
  • 1 teaspoon uziza seeds (optional)
  • A teaspoon ground fresh Pepper (Scotch bonnet) or to taste.
  • One small Onion to boil the meat
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon palm oil (Optional)
  •  2 seasoning cubes
  • water, enough to cover the meat after boiling, you can always adjust by adding some more water if soup is getting too thick.
 

How to make this lovely, smooth, velvety, elastic pounded yam with a food processor

 Do you know how to make pounded yam with a food processor?

COOKING STEPS FOR MY NIGERIAN WHITE SOUP:

  1. First, boil the meat with salt, 1 seasoning cube and onion only, add pepper and stock fish after it begins to boil.
  2. when meat is tender enough, add just a drop of palm oil or a teaspoon. Just enough to make it look beautiful, (If the stock fish is the dark type that cooks fast, remove from heat before adding palm oil, and  return when the soup is almost ready) otherwise you leave it white after all, that’s the name. Let meat cook until it’s almost tender.
  3. Add more water to the quantity of soup you want to make, enough to cover the almost cooked meat. Check for salt and seasoning. Cover and leave to boil.
  4. Next Add the pounded 1 or 2 slices of boiled yam if you are using yam to thicken. If cocoyam (ede), add the pounded boiled cocoyam and the (bone picked) smoked fish. Cover and leave to boil while you stir frequently until you are Ok with the thickness.Do not forget to stir almost continuously, that way the pounded yam or cocoyam in the pot gently disintegrates and thickens the soup.
  5. Check for thickness and salt before adding the washed, chopped hot leaf (uziza). If you like the uziza aroma stronger, pound and add the seeds too to enhance that flavour.
  6. Stir, cover the pot and let the uziza simmer into the soup.
  7. Turn off the heat and serve with your pounded yam.

 

To summarise, remember that white soup doesn’t need  any oil but you can drop a little like a teaspoon for colour.

 

NOTE: Uziza is hot, so, avoid adding much pepper. The soup should not be left to get too thick.
              Add vegetables sparingly. Cook with just a few leaves of uziza.
Enjoy your LUNCH!
SEE ALSO:
How to cook Nigerian white soup without meat

How to cook Nigerian white soup with Egusi

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85 thoughts on “How To Cook Nigerian White Soup”

  1. Thank you so much, my dear. You're a God-sent. May God who has given you this wonderful idea continue to bless and increase you and your lovely family. Your blog is a blessing and it rocks!

    Reply
  2. Thanks a lot for this blog! U r doing a fantastic job here which you might not realise. At least we get to prepare more variety from the usual dishes. I'm really happy, God bless!

    Reply
  3. My bad! Didn't know it was specifically sent to you. I have linked appropriately.
    as for the soup, unfotunately I live in a country were I cant get the ingredients. I will just keep learning how to make this soups until I come back home. Thumbs up

    Reply
  4. since i stumbled into this website it was been a blessing to me and my family. I love cooking and seeing so many foods and recipes here has made me so happy. Keep it up.

    Reply
  5. You make it sound like good cooking always warms a man's heart. Well, I cook very well and my husband and his family always give me compliments and they look forward to my cooking when they visit but I don't see any extraordinary reaction.Abi maybe I'm expecting too much. Anyways, back to the lovely soup, I have made this soup and I used achi to thicken, it came out nice but do you think cocoyam or yam will give an even better result? I know achi is easier but if cocoyam or yam is better, I am happy to try

    Reply
  6. Is there any particular reason you didn't add ground crayfish? Does without crayfish give a better result? If so, I'm more that happy to leave crafish out

    Reply
  7. Am about to get married and I've been worried about cooking variety of food for my boo other than the normal everyday dishes and I stumbled on this blog via linda ikejis blog…. U r totally God-sent.. Thanks alotttt.. Can't wait to start cooking .. Yippeeeee!!!!

    Reply
  8. Sometimes I add ground crayfish. There is no crayfish here because I wanted the goatmeat taste to overpower other ingredients. Crayfish is very strong and may refuse to be overpowered.

    Reply
  9. So glad I came to dis blog.one question,i thot dey normally add smth like pepper spice to it,and can one use chicken?tank u so much.

    Reply
  10. I was jus thinking of this soup 5mins ago o.chai,you re heaven sent madam.though I av 1small question,wen u say pounded yam will b added2d soup.do u mean jus meshed boiled yam?or raw grated yam?

    Reply
  11. i tried dis soup for dinner yestaday and it tastes hmm delicious i watched with my side eye as my husband lick his plate and i was happy thanks eya for dis recipe pls teach me how to cook banga soup and ofe oweri thanks saw ur blog on lib olori moji

    Reply
  12. Thank u Ma. Ur blog is the best. Its saving a lot of home. I tried ur green jollof rice and it was wonderful. The kudos goes to u, ma. Thank u for inspiring me. This we re not paying for, thank u

    Reply
  13. I must say U are doing a real gud job here dear!much appreciated 4 sharing Dis special one. May D gud lord bless D works of your hands. Thank U

    Reply
  14. hello ,you doing a great job. i just want to add that uziza seed will also taste so good in it or the peppersoup ingredients,someone asked but you didn't say anything….and snails can be added fresh fish, turkey e.t.c what ever you want …I simply love to cook …Bomsy

    Reply
  15. Bomsy, you are a Darling sister! You just reminded me something. Uziza seed should be number one on the list. Uziza seed really has a way of enhancing the hot leaf flavor.
    Thank you!
    p.s. Readers, a little quantity of the uziza seed should be pounded or ground before being added.

    Reply
  16. Aunty I love ur blog.am a calabar girl and wen my mum can't find uziza she uses curry leaves.u will be shocked at d outcome.infact dat is d real afia efere.uziza is just d ibo variation.God bless u ma.

    Reply
  17. EYA I LOVED THIS AND IMMEDIATELY WENT TO THE MARKET AND COOKED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME with pounded yam…..APART FROM THE FACT THAT I oVER BOILED THE LEAVES, IT TASTE SO GOOD THAT I ACTUALLY EAT IT WITHOUT POUNDED YAM….JUST WITH A SPOON……*licking lips*

    ALSO MADE AFANG SOUP….HAVE NOT MADE IT IN A WHILE SO SEEING IT HERE MOTIVATED ME TO DO SO…….hehehehe

    Reply
  18. I do that too inside my kitchen, with a spoon and plate. If anyone sees me licking, we may end up licking the whole pot of soup. I lick when I am alone in the kitchen.
    Licking white soup tastes so goooood!

    How did the afang go?

    Reply
  19. Pls wat kind of pepper do i use,is it d normal red pepper (rodo)blended or wch one,pls am a yoruba gurl who wants 2 give d preparation a trial cus I love white soups a lot.thanks

    Reply
  20. Aunty Eya ur blog is d bomb.. Cooking is so much fun for me now.. Always eager to try out new recipes from here.. God bless u..

    Reply
    • Yeah, I'm with you Anon, this blog is so cool. Tho i can cook well, i never really liked cooking as a hobby and wish i could avoid it…. in fact one of my wishes was to become a millionaire so ì can employ a cook dat I will just supervise, but I got married to a man dat loves good food and variety so no such luck… I can be quite routine and unadventurous, but this blog is helping me see different ways of making coking interesting and fun, I see that my taking more interest in cooking has really brought out the good side in my hubby and I am willing to continue for his sake. Great job, Eya.

      Reply
  21. I just found this blog & i am in love. You make cooking new food so easy. I am trying this soup over the weekend & i cnt wait to cook. God bless you! May the maggi in ur food never turn bitter. 🙂

    Reply
  22. Tnk U̶̲̥̅̊ so much,I did prepare d soup yestdy nd it came out so well but I added crayfish,I lik tryin out new tinz am yoruba nd hubby is urhobo but alas he lovd it nd asked for anoda round of eba.thumbs up eya

    Reply
  23. Human beings are wicked,very wicked!am so vexing for all of u on this blog,why una no tell me? Its so not fair! See what I have been missing!Thanks so so so much EYA,what is a woman outside dis blog(a gossip)am so hooked since morning,I will be here 247.

    Reply
  24. Aunty Eya, please can you teach me how to cook mushroom soup they call it Obe Isapa in Yoruba language. i will be grateful

    Reply
  25. i̶̲̥̅̊ love i̶̲̥̅̊ eya i̶̲̥̅̊ have been wantin to prepare dis soup for a long tym nw i̶̲̥̅̊ knw ♓☺W to do it †нªηкs U̶̲̅я blog is da bomb

    Reply
  26. I love your blog! I am non-9ja married to an igbo man and because of your fabulous blog, my cooking skills for 9ja food have really gone up a notch! My hubby has been noticing the difference and that makes me very happy! So far, I have made the white soup and the okra. Next in line is the egusi:-)! Hope it comes out as fabulous as yours…a girl can try and wish:-))

    Reply
  27. You are really a darling. My fience has being asking me if I know how to cook white soup say that it is his favourite soup. Thank u for being there for us. U have safed me.

    Reply
  28. Tnk u so much ma, i came across this blog while talking about this soup with my boo he so loves it… Am trying it asap

    Reply
  29. Eya thanks 4 d gud job u r doing. Gos bless u a lot.i hv bn lookn 4 a site where I cn b learning hw 2 prepare variety.just came across ur blogg.hw cn I b gettn tips on hw 2 prepare different delicious meals?

    Reply
  30. Ng fine face, ou can cook without oil, no problem but I don't want mine looking like dog vomit so I add just a few drops of oil to make it look inviting.

    Reply
  31. I cooked with just a handful of hot leaf o, not all that bunch in the picture. Even the smoked fish, I didn't use everything in the picture. It depends on the quantity of soup you are cooking sha.

    Reply
  32. The soup is called White because of the absence of palm oil. So adding palm oil even if it's a drop changes the name…

    But I'll try this method someday soon. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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