Assorted cow meat pepper soup is one of the delicious pepper soups in Nigeria, it is spicy rich and filled with different kinds of meat. one the best ways of preparing your assorted meat pepper soup is to season it with some rich and healthy pepper soup spices; fewleaves like basil, (nchawu),spring onions, uziza are great for garnishing any kind of pepper soup.
Most days, the weather could just appear cold and rainy all day, you begin to wonder what food to prepare to help combat the cold moment. It is fine if you sip hot tea withpotato chipsandscrambled egg, or take oatmeal, spaghetti, jollof rice or macaroni jollof. These foods are for sure fantastic, but there is nothing as good as making your favourite comfort dish to lift your moodiness. Soup is always the best option for a rainy day, not just any kind of soup but hot meat pepper soup which is acceptable by many people.
Pepper soup is known for it’smedicinal benefitsand it is served as a remedy to improve the health conditions of ill people. this spicy soup is also consumed by new mothers because it is believed by some experts to assist in the secretion of breast milk, you can prepare this for any nursing mom close to you , it helps a lot.
Pepper soup is one of those dishes we dont take for granted in Nigeria, you ask about pepper soup and you will definitely get it in the restaurants, hotels, bars, food joints mostly during evening times. The main ingredients in pepper soups are pepper which makes it very peppery and the local nutmeg and herbs or spices like Nchawu, utazi, uziza, curry, ginger which gives it an irresistible flavour. Pepper soup is a light soup often prepared without oil and thickener. There are different types of pepper soup here in Nigeria such as:
- Catfish or fish pepper soup typically known as (Point and Kill).
- Goat meat pepper soup
- Beef pepper soup
- Chicken pepper soup
- Dog meat pepper soup
- Poke meat pepper soup
- Snails pepper soup
- Bush meat pepper soup
- And Assorted cow meat pepper soup which am going to talk more about.
Assorted meat pepper soup is the combination of different cow parts like the lung, tail, liver, heart, towel and intestine to prepare a savoury soup. The Hausas called it kaiyachiki which the literal meaning is things in the stomach. It can be used to prepare many dishes including pepper soup after which it can be served with boiled white rice, spaghetti, plantain and yam or eaten like that.
You can always prepare this yourself at home and eat at large instead of having to visit your regular restaurant and joint. All you need to do is to source for the needed spices at the local market and the meat from a close by abattoir and you are good to go.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for assorted meat pepper soup preparation
- 1 kg of assorted meat (combination of cow lung, heart, liver, towel and intestine)
- 3 beef stock cubes
- 1tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 Tablespoon chilli pepper
- 3 Pieces of calabash nutmeg (ehuru)
- 3 pieces fresh pepper
- 4 pieces of uda (Negro pepper), ground
- 1 ball red onion
- 2 tablespoons of crayfish, ground
- 5 pieces uziza seeds (ashanty peppers), ground
- A handful of Basil (scent leaves) and spring onions (any leaf will do)
- Salt to taste
How to wash assorted meat (cow intestines or kaiyaichiki)
The intestine doesnt come clean especially when you buy it directly from the market, even though they may look somehow clean, you cant really trust the person that washed them so well. You need to rewash them as soon as you reach home, to avoid food poisoning.
- If you check inside of the cow stomach parts you will discover some digested grass and brown liquid that needs to be emptied. To make this faster, run a knife through the tubes. Carefully squeeze out and wash the brown liquid inside the intestines (kayaichiki) severally.
- If you dont want to tear it open, turn it inside out to get rid of the excess saturated fat and rinse in water.
- For those ones that look like towel or sponge, you will notice some brownish flesh on the first layers. Peel out those brown skins and if possible check for some digested grass around the flesh and rinse them out.
- Finally rinse the whole meat with salt water and package into therefrigerator to preserve it till when you want to use it. If you are to use it for pepper soup, you can read down and follow the few listed steps below.
Just before the preparation
- Now that your assorted meat is well washed, Chop or blend the onion, peppers with crayfish and keep aside.
- Break open the local nutmegs from the shell and blend it with uziza seeds and keep aside.
- Pick your uziza or scent leaves, wash and rinse with salt water to get rid of ants and some dirt. Cut into stripes and keep aside.
Steps on how to prepare assorted meat pepper soup
- Add half of your nutmeg, chopped onions, pepper, curry, thyme pepper soup spice and chilli pepper, and a little salt to the washed meat. Place on a burner to cook for 20 minutes on a high heat.
2. If you notice the water reduced, add a cup or more water to cook it till very soft and tender.
3. Check for more water and top up if necessary depending on the quantity of pepper soup you want to achieve. Add crayfish if you are using it, the remaining seasoning cubes, fresh pepper, nutmeg, uziza seed and taste for salt.
4. When the meat is completely tender, check for other seasonings and adjust them. You can add more water to it if the spices are too much to reduce the salty taste.
5. Add your vegetables, stir and lower the heat to cook for an extra 10 minutes. I used spring onions instead of scent leaves, uziza or utazi leaves because I could not lay hands on any. Feel free to experiment with any vegetables of your choice.
6. Turn off the burner and enjoy it with boiled white rice or plantain.
Note: If you are using uziza seeds together with pepper, be careful to add little because the soup might be too peppery except you can tolerate much pepper.
Utazi leaf is another special herb or spice for pepper soups, it adds light bitterly taste to the meat. You can try addingit toyour pepper soups.
You may choose to prepare your pepper soup without the addition of vegetables, it will still go well, depending on you preference.
You can always share with us your own method of preparing pepper soup be it with any kind of meat.