Nigerian · soup

Ofe Nsala (White Pepper Soup)

Ofe Nsala (White Pepper Soup) reads heat 4.3, salinity 3.9 and marine & briny 3.7 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Nigerian soup, about 51 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 5.0 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 0.5 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.6 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 2.2 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.9 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Heat 4.3 · Salinity 3.9 · Marine & Briny 3.7 · Funk & Ferment 3.6 · Umami 3.3 · Bitterness 3.2 · Allium 3.1 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Fruity 2.1 · Richness 2.0 · Earthy 1.6 · Herbaceous 1.6 · Floral 1.1 · Smoke 0.9 · Nutty 0.9 · Sweetness 0.6 · Sourness 0.5

What's in it (14)

• catfish fillets — 1200 g
• yam — 200 g
• uda pods — 300 g
• ehuru seeds — 200 g
• uziza seeds — 15 g
• uziza leaves — 20 g
• ogiri okpei — 15 g
• crayfish — 30 g
• scotch bonnet chillies — 200 g
• onion — 100 g
• water — 1200 g
• salt — 10 g
• bouillon — 4 g
• utazi leaves — 10 g

Time & effort: about 51 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 42.7 kcal, 5.4 g protein, 2.1 g fat, 0.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. Rinse the catfish steaks in very hot water with a little of the salt and rub the slime off the skin with your fingers, about 5 minutes. Skip this and the soup turns cloudy and slippery.
2. Boil the yam in 500 ml of the water for 15 minutes, until it is soft enough to crush against the side of the pan.
3. Pound or blend the yam with a few spoonfuls of its cooking water into a smooth, stiff paste, about 3 minutes.
4. Toast the uda pods and the ehuru seeds in a dry pan over medium heat 2 minutes, until they smell resinous and warm.
5. Crack the ehuru shells, discard them, and grind the toasted uda and ehuru together with the ground uziza seeds, about 2 minutes.
6. Bring the remaining 700 ml water to a boil with the blended onion, the ogiri, the crayfish, the ground chilli, the ground spices, the remaining salt and the seasoning cube, and boil 5 minutes.
7. Slide in the catfish and simmer very gently 10 to 12 minutes without stirring at all; catfish falls apart if it is moved.
8. Drop the yam paste in small lumps over the surface, cover, and cook 5 minutes, then swirl the pot by its handles until the lumps dissolve and the broth thickens to the consistency of pouring cream. No palm oil goes into nsala at any stage. The whiteness is the name of the dish.
9. Scatter over the uziza and utazi leaves, take the pot off the heat and let it sit 2 minutes before serving.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Amala with Ewedu and Gbegiri (Abula) — Nigerian
• Orecchiette con le Cime di Rapa — Italian · Puglia
• Filipino Chicken Halang Halang — Filipino
• Steamed Fish — Jamaican
• Spaghetti alla Puttanesca — Italian

Keep reading: what heat, salinity, marine & briny mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.