Goat Meat Pepper Soup

Cut the goat meat into cutlets — bone-in pieces roughly 4–5 cm.

💡 Ask the butcher to do it. Goat bone is dense and a home knife will not go through it cleanly.

Rinse the meat thoroughly under cold water until it runs clear.

💡 Her instruction says thoroughly, and it matters here: this broth has no oil, no tomato and no thickener to hide behind. Anything you fail to rinse off ends up in the bowl.

Put the meat in a pot with the salt, seasoning cube, minced scotch bonnet and half the onion.

Pour in the 960 ml of water and bring it to a boil over high heat.

Drop to a steady medium simmer and cook 30 minutes, skimming off any grey scum that rises in the first few minutes.

💡 Skim early and the broth stays clear — the whole appeal of pepper soup is that you can see through it. Skim late and the scum has already broken up and clouded the pot.

Check the meat at 30 minutes: it should be tender enough to give under a fork but still hold onto the bone.

💡 Goat varies enormously by age. Older animals can need 60 minutes or more — keep simmering and top up the water rather than moving on with tough meat.

Grate the remaining half onion.

Add the pepper soup spice, red chili flakes, ginger powder, the grated onion and the crayfish.

Simmer another 10 minutes. The broth should turn cloudy-tan and the kitchen should smell sharply spiced.

💡 The spice goes in late on purpose. Boiled for the full 45 minutes it would turn dull and bitter — the aroma is the dish, and it is volatile.

Stir in the uziza leaves and let it simmer 5 minutes more.

Taste and adjust the salt, then serve hot in bowls with yam, rice or bread.

💡 Nigerians drink this when they are ill or cold — it is the local equivalent of chicken soup, and it is meant to make your nose run.