White soup has a variety of ingredients but some are primary in that they must be present for the soup to be ready. In this discourse, I will be telling you more about the ingredients of white soup.

Nsala soup or white soup as commonly called by Nigerians is a meal famous to the eastern tribe and riverine area of Nigeria. The unique feature of this soup is that you do not cook it with Palm oil.

The major components of this soup are yam and catfish. However, you can use any other proteins of your choice for cooking, although catfish is an essential requirement.

Ofe nsala is a bit similar to the Efik soup called Afia Efere, but the extra condiments make it different from Nsala. In this article, however, we will be discussing how to cook Nsala soup with goat meat and catfish.

Ingredient for White Soup

To cook Nsala soup with goat meat, you would need the following ingredients:

1. 1 Cup Ground Crayfish

2. 2 Cubes Seasoning

3. 2 TBSP Ground Uziza Seeds

4. 1 Cup Uziza Leaves

5. 2 Mid-size Dried Fishes

6. 2.5 Kg Goat Meat

7. 2 TBSP Ground Pepper

8. 1 TBSP Salt

9. 1 Small Bulb Onion

10. Pepper

11. 5-7 Mid-size Yam Cubes

12. Utazi Leaves

White Soup Preparation

The first step, peel the yam cubes, wash and boil. After 10 minutes, drain the yam slices then pound till it is a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle. If you do not have a mortar and a pestle, you can put the boiled yam cubes in a blender or food processor, and add a little water, until it is a smooth paste. (You can use the water used to cook the yam).

The pounded yam serves as a thickener for the soup, once this is done, put it aside. The next thing to do is to wash the goat meat and spice it with onions, a seasoning cube, and salt.

Leave to parboil for at least thirty minutes. While the beef is parboiling, wash the dried fish in a bowl. While washing, remove the entrails to avoid eating the bile, which is bitter and unpleasant. After cleaning the fish, add it to the meat that is being parboiled.

After the proteins in the soup have been softened, the next thing to do is to add the quantity of water needed to make the soup. The amount of water you add depends on the number of ingredients you have, plus the number of people who would be eating.

While the stock (a combination of fish and meat and water) is boiling, add pepper and the thickener (Pounded yam). Ensure that the thickener melts into the stock water. This is to avoid lumps while eating the soup with a swallow. After 10 minutes, add the ground Uziza seeds and leave to boil.

Wash the Utazi leaves; they should be in small quantities because they are bitter. Chop the Utazi leaves. Add the ground crayfish and Utazi leaves, leave to boil for minutes, and then turn off the light.

Your Nsala soup is ready to be eaten. You can either eat it with semolina or fufu. Moving on, this is the procedure for cooking Nsala soup with catfish. Though similar, there are a few differences.

To cook Nsala soup with catfish, you would need the following ingredients:

1. One medium-sized catfish.

2. 5-7 medium yam cubes.

3. A handful of Utazi leaves.

4. A cup of ground crayfish.

5. One teaspoon of Ogiri.

6. One teaspoon of Uziza seeds.

7. Quarter teaspoon of Ehuru.

8. 1 Small-sized bulb of onion.

9. Two teaspoons of ground pepper.

10. Three seasoning cubes.

11. Salt

12. Two medium-dried fish.