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Pepper Soup

Pepper Soup is a traditional Liberian recipe for a hot chilli soup/stew. This is the basic recipe without any meat or vegetables, just the chillies and hot stock. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Liberian version of: Pepper Soup.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

60 minutes

Total Time:

75 minutes

Serves:

4–6

Rating:

Tags : Chilli RecipesSpice RecipesLiberia Recipes

This is a true West African classic and there are as many variants as there are days in the year. The recipe given below is for a traditional Liberian pepper broth (no meat) and it serves as the base for any pepper soup. This is typically prepared as a pick-me-up for anyone who's feeling a little under the weather — West Africa's version of chicken soup, if you will.

Ingredients:

20 Scotch Bonnet chillies
Juice of 1 lime
Fish for stock (fish heads/trimmings are fine)
2 onions, roughly sliced
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Method:

First make a fish stock by gently frying the fish heads/trimmings and half the garlic in a little oil for a few minutes. Add about 2l water to this and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. At the end of this time strain the stock to remove the fish and garlic and reserve the broth.

Add about 60ml vegetable oil into a large stock pot, add the chillies, onions and garlic and fry for about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper then add the lime juice and fish stock. Bring to the boil, reduce to a slow simmer, cover and cook for 40 minutes.

The soup can be served as it is (the guest would mash the chillies with the back of a spoon before eating) or, alternatively mash the chillies with a fork and then serve in soup bowls.

Other variants of this basic soup will include meat, fish, shellfish, prawns, crabs or any combination of these.