White soup is one of the most tasty of all Nigerian soups, this year alone I have prepared and eaten more of it than any other. Ofe Nsala, as it is called in Igbo, is a delicacy in Igboland.

I enjoy plenty of the foods in Nigeria but there are quite some of them that taste more delicious to me. For instance, melon soup (Ofe Egusi) is like the number one for me.

The reason is that… sometimes we like to eat a combination of two or more different soups in our home and egusi blends perfectly with most of the soups in Nigeria, sometimes I even blend it with Nsala soup (also called white soup).

It is the only soup in Nigeria that is made without palm oil… just like pepper soup and Ewedu soup, the use of palm oil is not necessary. You can use plain beef or assorted meat for this delicacy. We used chicken

It is very famous in the South and Eastern parts of Nigeria, the Efiks and Igbos are the top makers and consumers of this delicious soup. So if you are dating or married to a guy from the south or eastern part of Nigeria, you can try giving him a meal of pounded yam and Ofe Nsala tonight.

Below are the ingredients for Nsala (White Soup), the ingredients below would serve about five persons for three consecutive times. Soups in Nigeria can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, most times it is better to make lots of soups and then refrigerate the remainder.

White Soup Ingredients

Serving 12

Preparation time: 80 minutes

1. Yam (six to eight slices…baby fist size)

2. Ground crayfish (1 cup)

3. 3 Seasoning cubes

4. 1 Teaspoon Uziza seeds

5. 1 Cup sliced Uziza leaves

6. Dried or smoked fish (two medium sizes)

7. Snails (Optional)

8. 1.3KG / 3lb Chicken

9. Small Dawadawa

10. Handful of sliced Utazi leaves

11. Salt and Pepper to taste.

How to Cook White Soup

You might want to start by peeling and boiling the yam, this should be pounded with a mortar and pestle. Pounded yam serves as the thickener for White soup

Mix the crayfish, Uziza seeds, and Dawadawa, and grind to a powder. Wash and slice the leaves. You can wash snails with lemon/line juice to remove the slimy fluid, although, you would be surprised to learn that there are people in Nigeria that cook snails with the slimy fluids, sometimes without even removing the shell. We are talking about a delicious Ijaw Recipe – Keke Fieye.

Parboil the chicken with all the necessary ingredients, and season with two stock/seasoning cubes, a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of sliced onions, and half a teaspoon of ginger/garlic.

Parboil the meat for about seven minutes… until it is soft enough for consumption then you can go ahead and add the hot-water-washed dry fish. This could be added earlier if you are making use of a strong dry fish like Mangala.

Add about three cups of cold or boiled water. The amount of water for White soup depends on the ingredients/thickener available and the number of people that you are making the soup for.

Boil the combination for another seven to ten minutes until they are both soft for consumption then go ahead and add the ground crayfish/Uziza seed/dawadawa combination, and ground red pepper (pls taste before adding red pepper, the Uziza seeds are also very pepperish).

Taste your soup at this time and add a seasoning cube and salt to improve the taste if it does not taste nice yet. Add the pounded yam.

You can add half and watch the soup for the next five minutes if it is not thick enough you can add a little more; I just don’t like the soup to be very thick. I like a very light Nsala soup, it tastes better that way.

Once the white soup is thick enough and the pounded yams are well dissolved. You can now go ahead and add the sliced Uziza and Utazi leaves.

The Utazi should be used sparingly for white soup; the reason is just to add a faint bitter taste. Allow for some minutes and you can go ahead and serve your delicious Ofe Nsala with pounded yam, fufu or eba.

Cooking Instruction

1. Peel and boil some yam, then pound and keep aside. You need about 1 kg of pounded yam.

2. Mix crayfish, Uziza seeds, and Dawadawa and blend to a powder.

3. Prepare all the other ingredients (slice the leaves, and wash the snails using lime or orange juice)

4. Season the chicken with two stock/seasoning cubes, a teaspoon each of ginger and garlic, and a teaspoon of salt and allow to boil then add the washed fish.

5. Add about three cups of water.

6. Bring to boil, you wish the meat and fish soft and easy to chew. Then add the crayfish and Uziza seed blend. The pepper ought to be followed after tasting.

7. You can taste the soup. You are free to add an extra seasoning cube or more salt to taste

8. Introduce the pounded yam in small portions.

9. Let it dissolve and thicken. Then the leaves should come in.

10. Let it simmer on low heat for a few minutes and you are done.

White soup is the most treasured soup in Igboland, and in Nigeria at large, it is regarded as the most expensive soup sold in eateries in the country. If a plate of soup and Fufu is sold for 500 Naira, White soup will be sold for 700 Naira.

Cooking it might be hard but careful adherence to the recipe above will make it easier for you.