Fresh Fish Pepper Soup

Ingredients

• a big quantity of fresh river fish (tilapia, bream, mudfish or any fresh river fish), cleaned and cut into steaks
• 1 big piece of alum (akanwu) — for removing slime from catfish or mudfish
• Lemon juice and salt for cleaning
• 4 to 5 Atarodo (very hot chilli peppers) — whole
• 1 teaspoon of ground uziza seeds
• 1 teaspoon of ground ehuru
• 1 teaspoon of ground Cameroon pepper
• 3 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
• 1 big onion, sliced
• 2 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
• 1 cooking spoon of palm oil — optional, for colour
• Salt to taste
• 5 glasses of water
• A small handful of fresh scent leaves, torn

Method

1. 01

   Cleaning the Fish. If using catfish or mudfish, rub thoroughly with alum to remove slime. Rub all fish with lemon juice and salt. Rinse thoroughly. Cut into large steaks — 4 to 5 fingers width thick.

2. 02

   Building the Broth. Place sliced onion in pot with 5 glasses of water and palm oil if using. Add all pepper soup spices, ground crayfish, seasoning cubes and salt. Bring to a vigorous boil.

3. 03

   Adding Fish to Boiling Broth. This is critical — always add fresh fish to already boiling broth to seal the flesh and keep fish intact. Lower fish steaks gently into the rolling boil.

4. 04

   Cooking the Fish. Reduce to medium heat. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes until fish is completely opaque and flesh flakes when tested with a fork at the thickest point. Do not overcook.

5. 05

   Adding Scent Leaves. Add torn scent leaves in the final 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust. Serve immediately.

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• Egusi Soup90 min
• Efo Riro75 min
• Gbegiri60 min
• Ewedu Soup25 min
• Ogbono Soup60 min
• Obe Ata60 min