Nigerian Delicious Uziza Soup
When it comes to Uziza soup, be ready to have the taste linger on your tongue for a really long time. If you're looking for a vegetable to give you that special aroma and definitive taste, then Uziza leaves will do justice to that.
Ingredients
- Goat meat
- Stockfish
- Cow skin (Kpomo)
- Snail
- Seasoning cubes
- Salt
- Fresh Pepper
- Crayfish
- Locust beans/Ogiri/Okpeyi
- Dry fish
- Palm oil
- Achi (Ground)
- Garri
Instructions
- Start off by washing and getting your protein ready – your meat, snail, cow skin and stock fish. Once that is done, get a clean cooking pot and pour them into the pot. Now add your seasoning cubes, your salt, and some already pounded pepper.
- Stir and steam for about 15 minutes without water. If you notice it's possibly burning, add a little water to it and stir again. Naturally, meats and the like have their own water, and you don't need to add water when cooking, but sometimes, it may not be so.
- While the meat is steaming up, get the rest of the ingredients ready. Get a small mortar, add your crayfish, add two or three bulbs of fresh pepper, add your locust beans and mash them together gently. Once that is done, check on your meat to see if it's ready. Give it a quick stir and add some water. Then cook until the snail is done.
- Now, while the meat is still cooking, you can get back to preparing your ingredients if you haven't already done everything. Select the uziza leaves that you want, especially the fresh ones, and wash them. After that, carefully arrange them and cut in tiny slices.
- When you're done, set it aside. Next, check on your snails once more, and when you're sure they're done and ready, take them out. Leave the rest of the meat in the pot. This is because we still want the snail to retain it crunchy taste. Now, add your dry fish to the pot and stir. Add more water and cook until the meat is almost done.
- Check back on the meat and add your mashed crayfish sauce to the pot. Add some water to the mortar to rinse out the remnants of the crayfish and pour it into the pot too (If you want). Now, add some palm oil to the pot. The water you should add to the pot is largely dependent on the quantity of soup you're making.
- Now, add your thickener (for this recipe, we would be using Achi). You can either choose to add your achi directly into the soup that way, or you can add a little water to mix it up, so that it doesn't come out lumpy. Whichever works for you. Now, give the soup a quick stir and cover the pot to let it steam.
- Don't forget to taste your soup and adjust the flavor accordingly to whatever ingredient you feel is missing. Cover and boil for ten minutes. Check on the soup, give it a good stir and now, add your snails to it. Also, add your sliced Uziza leaves. Now, stir and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Stir the soup one more time and take it off the heat. It's ready.
- Next up would be to make the Garri or Semo. Whichever one you prefer. For this recipe, we will be using Garri. You can make your garri the old-fashioned way of boiling water and adding your garri into the boiled water in a bowl and turning till it's soft yet firm, or you could decide to make the garri on the heat.
- All you have to do is add the garri gently into a pot of measured boiling water and stir till it's enough. Then you gently stir and turn. Be careful not to let it burn. If you think it's too firm, add some water and continue turning and stirring it till it softens. It's ready.