Soups & Stews

Goat Meat Pepper Soup

Name: Goat Meat Pepper Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 1000 g bone-in goat shoulder or leg (Cut into roughly 4 cm pieces; have the butcher remove loose bone fragments.); 150 g onion (Finely chopped.); 1500 ml water; 500 ml additional hot water (For evaporation, as needed.); 2 tsp ground calabash nutmeg (ehuru) (Food-grade, shelled spice; not ordinary nutmeg.); 1 tsp ground uziza seeds; 0.5 tsp ground grains of Selim (uda) (Use ground dried pod walls with the bitter seeds removed.); 1 whole Scotch bonnet or habanero (Finely chopped; start with half for milder heat.); 10 g fresh scent leaves (Washed and thinly sliced; basil is a different-tasting substitute.); 1 tsp salt (Start with half if using the optional stock cube.); 1 small stock cube (Optional; check allergens.); 1 tbsp ground dried crayfish (Optional; crustacean allergen.)

Tender goat in a light broth scented with calabash nutmeg, uziza, grains of Selim and fresh leaves. Ozoz Sokoh describes pepper soup through regional spice differences and family meals, including the flavours she grew up with in Warri. Nigerian Food TV documents a goat version that can use meat alone or assorted parts. This recipe uses meat without offal and a clearly named spice combination; it does not present that combination as a national standard. Cultural context: Pepper soup is a family of Nigerian broths with different regional spice blends. This goat version is not assigned an exclusive ethnic origin.

Goat meat pepper soup with large bone-in pieces

Photo by Halima Waziri · CC BY-SA 4.0

Image details

Resized proportionally to 900x1200 pixels; converted to WebP at quality 87; no cropping or content edits.

15 minPreparation

90 minCooking

4Servings

What you’ll need

4 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Put goat, onion, 500 ml water, half the salt and the optional stock cube in a pot. Bring to a boil, skim if necessary, then simmer covered for 30 minutes.
2
Add the remaining litre of water, the three measured spices, chilli and optional crayfish. Simmer gently, partly covered, until the goat is easy to pierce, usually another 45–60 minutes; older meat may need longer.
3
Top up with reserved hot water when needed to retain a light broth. The meat must be cooked through as well as tender; whole goat cuts require at least 63°C with 3 minutes at that temperature or resting before eating, and this long simmer normally exceeds that minimum.
4
Add the scent leaves and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste the cooked broth, adjust the remaining salt and serve hot, warning diners about bones.

A little kitchen wisdom

Serve with boiled yam, plantain or eko, prepared separately. Pepper-soup spice is not curry powder. If using a packaged blend instead, follow its dosage and check whether it already contains salt or crayfish. Timing: active preparation 15 min; cooking 90 min; additional passive time 0 min; conservative planning allowance 105 min. Some stages may overlap. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: Crustaceans if optional crayfish is included.; Optional stock cubes may contain wheat, soy, celery, milk or other allergens; read the label.

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Goat pepper soup

Pepper soup is a family of Nigerian broths with different regional spice blends. This goat version is not assigned an exclusive ethnic origin.

Allergens: Crustaceans if optional crayfish is included., Optional stock cubes may contain wheat, soy, celery, milk or other allergens; read the label.

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Goat Meat Pepper Soup

Photo by Halima Waziri · CC BY-SA 4.0

Image details

Resized proportionally to 900x1200 pixels; converted to WebP at quality 87; no cropping or content edits.

15 minPreparation

90 minCooking

4Servings

What you’ll need

4 servings

Let’s get cooking

1
Put goat, onion, 500 ml water, half the salt and the optional stock cube in a pot. Bring to a boil, skim if necessary, then simmer covered for 30 minutes.
2
Add the remaining litre of water, the three measured spices, chilli and optional crayfish. Simmer gently, partly covered, until the goat is easy to pierce, usually another 45–60 minutes; older meat may need longer.
3
Top up with reserved hot water when needed to retain a light broth. The meat must be cooked through as well as tender; whole goat cuts require at least 63°C with 3 minutes at that temperature or resting before eating, and this long simmer normally exceeds that minimum.
4
Add the scent leaves and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste the cooked broth, adjust the remaining salt and serve hot, warning diners about bones.

A little kitchen wisdom

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Goat pepper soup

Pepper soup is a family of Nigerian broths with different regional spice blends. This goat version is not assigned an exclusive ethnic origin.

Allergens: Crustaceans if optional crayfish is included., Optional stock cubes may contain wheat, soy, celery, milk or other allergens; read the label.