Nigeria | Soup

Ofe Nsala

Name: Ofe Nsala
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 1 kg catfish, cleaned and cut in steaks; 350 g white yam, boiled and pounded; 2 tbsp ground crayfish; 1 tbsp ground uziza seeds; 1 tbsp utazi leaves, thinly sliced; 2 whole scotch bonnet peppers, blended; 5 cups water or light fish stock; salt, to taste

Igbo white soup made without palm oil, thickened with yam and cooked with catfish, crayfish, uziza, and utazi.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

80 min

Serves

Level

medium

Start cooking Explore Nigeria recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Soup

Protein

1 kg catfish, cleaned and cut in steaks

Thickener

350 g white yam, boiled and pounded

Seasoning

2 tbsp ground crayfish 1 tbsp ground uziza seeds

Leaves

1 tbsp utazi leaves, thinly sliced

Heat

2 whole scotch bonnet peppers, blended

Liquid

5 cups water or light fish stock

Pantry

salt, to taste

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Blender

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Nigeria

4 steps 25 min prep 55 min cook (check method) 80 min total medium

Make yam thickener

Boil yam until soft, then pound or blend into a smooth paste.

yam 20:00

Season the broth

Bring water or stock to a simmer with crayfish, uziza, pepper, and salt.

broth 10:00

Cook the fish

Add catfish pieces and simmer gently until almost cooked.

fish simmer 12:00

Thicken and finish

Add yam paste in small lumps, simmer until dissolved and thickened, then finish with utazi.

thicken 15:00

Catfish is common, but chicken or goat can be used. Some cooks add more uziza for heat and aroma.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for swallow meals, special family cooking, and peppery fish soup cravings.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 80 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Pounded yam, semolina, fufu, or boiled yam.

Regional lane

South-East and Igbo table. Cassava salads, oha, white soup, bambara nut cakes, palm oil, smoked fish, and cocoyam-thickened soups.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

palm oil, crayfish, iru or ogiri, scotch bonnet, melon seed

Recipe illustrations

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Catfish steaks in pale yam-thickened Ofe Nsala broth with sliced utazi leaves; AI-generated recipe illustration — Ofe Nsala finished dish · AI-generated illustration

Chef board

Build the table around Ofe Nsala

Pounded yam, semolina, fufu, or boiled yam.

Best route from here

South-East and Igbo table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

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