How to cook Nsala Soup (White Soup)

Nsala soup or White Soup is a tasty, fast and
easy soup recipe that has its origins in the
riverine areas of Nigeria.
Nsala Soup is perfect for a cold rainy day due
to its spicy taste. Because it is so easy to
prepare, you can count on it to save the day
when you run out on soup a few days before
the big soup day ;)
See Ingredents and Cooking Directions after
the cut
Ingredients
Cat Fish : 4 one-inch thick pieces
Fresh or dry Utazi Leaves (Gongronema
latifolium)
Thickener: Raw White Yam / Yam Powder /
Potato Puree
Habanero peppers: to taste
Salt (to taste)
Crayfish (a handful for 4 cuts of fish)
Seasoning – 1 stock cube ( Maggi / Knorr) and
Ogiri Okpei / Iru (Nigerian traditional
seasoning)
Alternative Ingredients for Nsala Soup
You can use Conger Eel (Congrio in Spanish)
instead of Cat fish . Buy the part towards the
tail because the pieces you'll get from there
are smaller and do not have large holes in
them.
When using yam powder as thickener, mix the
powder with hot water first to make a thick
smooth paste (as if you are making pounded
yam) before adding it to the soup. Adding the
powder directly into the soup will make the
soup mushy and you may end up with lumps.
In the absence of habanero pepper, you can
use dry chilli pepper.
Utazi leaves do not have any good alternative.
If you don't have it, no worries because it only
adds a slightly bitter flavour to the soup.
Before you cook Nsala Soup
Cut the catfish into 1 inch thick cylindrical
discs and remove the intestines. Place in bowl
and pour very hot water on the fish. This
process of pouring hot water on the fish
toughens the skin of the fish so that the
pieces do not disintegrate while cooking the
soup. Leave for about 2 minutes and wash the
fish with cold water. You should also wash off
any slimy substance on the outer skin of the
fish at this time.
Boil a few cubes of raw white yam. When soft,
pound with a mortar and pestle till a smooth
paste is formed, then set aside. You can
substitute white yam with yam powder or
potato puree for the thickening.
Wash and pound/blend the utazi leaves, the
chilli pepper and the crayfish and set aside.
Utazi is bitter in taste and only used for
flavouring so one or two leaves should be
enough especially when using the fresh leaves.
Cooking Directions
Place the catfish in a pot and pour enough
water to cover the fish. Add the seasoning and
cook till done. Feel free to add beef and dry
fish to this soup recipe.
When the catfish is almost done, add the
crayfish, pepper and utazi leaves blend. Also
add the yam paste in small lumps and salt to
taste.
Note: Catfish is what makes Nsala soup what
it is, giving it the unique taste that it has so
it is essential to this recipe. The only other
fish that I have found to be close to Cat fish
as regards to this recipe is Conger Eel.
Cover the pot and allow the contents to cook
at high heat till all the yam paste have
dissolved. While cooking, if you think that the
yam paste will make the soup too thick, you
can remove some that are yet to dissolve.
The Nigerian Nsala Soup is ready to be served
with Eba ( Garri ), Semolina, Amala, Pounded
Yam etc.