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    Home » All Recipes » Pepper Soup Spice

    Mar 12, 2020

    Pepper Soup Spice

    Published on Mar 12, 2020. Updated on Jan 21, 2021. By Tayo. This post may contain affiliate links. See Disclosure. 14 Comments

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    Pepper Soup spices-pinterest

    If you have ever tasted an African pepper soup, you might be wondering what gives it its unique and earthy flavor. I’m going to show you how to make pepper soup spice from scratch using the traditional ethnic spices, and also how to make it using everyday spices from your local grocery store.

    African pepper soup dishes are made with a blend of complex and unique spices. These spices are commonly found in the West African region and used in a variety of ethnic soups, like this goat meat pepper soup.

    Traditional spices used in making African pepper soup spice

    Alligator pepper: also known as Grains of Paradise, Guinea pepper, and Melegueta pepper. In Nigeria, this spice is known as Atare, Atariko or Ulima seeds.

    Alligator pepper has a nutty, woody flavor with a hint of citrus. It has a nice peppery taste without any harsh after-burn.

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    It also makes a great substitute for black pepper for those that don’t like the taste or are allergic to it.

    Also known as Grains of Paradise, Alligator pepper, Guinea pepper, and Melegueta pepper. In Nigeria, this spice is known as Atare, Atariko or Ulima seeds.

    Selim pepper: also known as Grains of Selim, Ethiopian pepper, Senegal pepper, Negro pepper, Kani pepper or Uda seed. This pepper has a musky flavor of smoked herbs with a hint of bitter cocoa. It is similar in flavor to peppercorns.

    Selim pepper also known as Grains of Selim, Ethiopian pepper, Senegal pepper, Negro pepper, Kani pepper or Uda seed.

    Calabash nutmeg: also known as Jamaican nutmeg, African nutmeg, and Muscadier de Calabash. In Nigeria, it is known as Ehuru, Ariwo or Ehiri, depending on what tribe you’re from.

    This spice is very similar to nutmeg and is grown in West Africa and also in the Caribbean islands.

    calabash nutmeg also known as Ehuru, Ariwo or Ehiri

    How to make pepper soup spices from scratch using traditional African spices.

    Roast the calabash nutmeg in a dry pan for about two minutes.

    Grind the calabash nutmeg, selim pepper, and alligator pepper together to a fine powder. My go-to grinder is this handy coffee grinder or this mortar and pestle set.

    Make sure they are well mixed together and store in an airtight container.

    This makes 3 tablespoons of the pepper soup mix and each serving has 0 net carbs and 0 calories.

    You can get all these spices from amazon or an African store and mix yourself or just buy a pre-packaged pepper soup spice mix. I have done both and I honestly can’t tell the difference as they both turned out really good.

    traditional ground pepper soup spices for fish pepper soup

    How to make pepper soup spice using spices commonly found in the grocery store

    It can be quite hard to get the native pepper soup spices if you don’t live in Africa. I like to order from Amazon sometimes but the items frequently go out of stock.

    So I began to experiment with different household spices to see if I could come up with something relatively close.

    After a few hours of mixing, smelling, tasting and shoving my spice blend under my husband’s nose for his approval, I eventually came up with a mix that mimics the taste of the traditional blend.

    The ingredients I used are Allspice, Peppercorn, Ginger, Cayenne pepper, Fennel seeds, and Cumin.

    Allspice has a woody flavor that resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. So if you don’t have allspice on hand, you can recreate it using half a teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

    ingredients used in making pepper soup spice

    To prepare the pepper soup spice:

    Grind the peppercorn and fennel seeds to a fine powder using a spice blender.

    Mix all the spices together and store them in an airtight container. This produces about 3 tablespoons of the pepper soup mix.

    ground pepper soup spices for fish pepper soup

    One serving is roughly 1 - 1.5 tablespoons, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be. As you can see, both spices are quite similar though not quite the same. But if you can't get the traditional spices, this option will work perfectly as it tastes really close to the original.

    african pepper soup spice

    What can I use pepper soup spice for?

    This spice is perfect for African pepper soups like this Nigerian Pepper Soup and this Fish Pepper Soup. You can also add small quantities to any stew or soup to really enhance the taste and flavor.

    fish pepper soup made with African pepper soup spice

    Check out these African pepper soup recipes!

    Chicken Pepper Soup

    Goat Meat Pepper Soup

    Nigerian Pepper Soup

    Fish Pepper Soup

    african pepper soup spices homepage

    Pepper Soup Spices

    Learn how to make Nigerian pepper soup spice from scratch using the traditional ethnic spices, and also using common spices from your grocery store.
    5 from 7 votes
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    Course: Condiments & Spices
    Cuisine: African
    Prep Time: 4 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 minute
    Total Time: 5 minutes
    Servings: 3
    Calories: 19kcal
    Author: Tayo Oredola
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    Ingredients

    Ingredients to make pepper soup spice (using traditional African spices)

    • 6 calabash nutmeg
    • 8 selim peppers
    • 1 tablespoon alligator pepper

    Ingredients to make pepper soup spice (using regular spices)

    • 1 tablespoon peppercorn
    • 2 teaspoon allspice
    • 1.5 teaspoon ginger
    • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
    • ¼ teaspoon cumin

    Instructions

    How to make pepper soup spices using traditional African spices

    • Roast the calabash nutmeg in a dry pan for about two minutes. 
    • Remove the outer skin and take out the seed inside.
    • Grind the calabash nutmeg, selim pepper, and alligator pepper together to a fine powder.
    • Store in an airtight container.

    How to make pepper soup spices using common spices

    • Grind the peppercorn and fennel seeds to a fine powder using a spice blender.
    • Mix with the other spices together and store in an airtight container.

    Notes

    • This produces about 3 tablespoons of the pepper soup mix. One serving is roughly 1 - 1.5 tablespoons, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be.
    • The recipe card shows the nutrition info for the pepper soup spice made from spices found in the grocery store.
    • The traditional pepper soup spice contains 0 calories and 0 carbs.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 19kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 85mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 573IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Pete says

      March 20, 2022 at 7:01 am

      Hi, thanks for this I certainly will try it.
      Already grind black pepper (pepper corn), ginger, funnel seed and others are available in the stores, will using them acheive the same result as buying the seeds to grind in making the pepper soup spice?

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        March 20, 2022 at 8:55 pm

        If it's already ground, it should still work.

        Reply
    2. Folake says

      August 20, 2021 at 11:06 am

      5 stars
      Thanks, Tayo, this is helpful.
      I tried it out and I got the taste of what I yearned for. Thanks, dear,

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        August 21, 2021 at 1:47 pm

        You are so welcome, Folake!

        Reply
    3. Olanipekun Deborah says

      June 16, 2020 at 8:51 am

      Pls I need spice mix for fish, chicken and beef stew. Thanks

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        June 16, 2020 at 10:19 pm

        I have a spice mix for fish in my pan-seared tilapia recipe, and I have another for beef or chicken in my crispy baked chicken recipe. I hope this helps!

        Reply
    4. Andrea says

      May 15, 2020 at 1:13 pm

      Hey! Thank you for the recipe, I am going to give it a go this weekend. I had a quick question though, the calabash nutmeg I have is already ground...about how much should I use to get "6 calabash nutmeg"? I am not sure how big they are to start with so it is difficult for me to guess.

      Thank you
      Andrea

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        May 15, 2020 at 9:29 pm

        Hi Andrea, the African calabash nutmeg is about 1/2 an inch in size and is pretty small. The Jamaican nutmeg comes in a much larger size. The item frequently goes out of stock online but you can see an example of the exact size here: https://amzn.to/3626VjM. Hope this helps!

        Reply
    5. Vivian says

      April 26, 2020 at 8:23 am

      I have been wanting to make my own pepper soup condiments I am so happy this is helpful to me.Thanks a lot

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        April 26, 2020 at 1:14 pm

        You're welcome, Vivian!

        Reply
    6. Moyo says

      April 13, 2020 at 9:08 am

      5 stars
      Thank you.
      This was very helpful In making my pepper-soup spice mix.

      Reply
      • Tayo says

        April 13, 2020 at 1:10 pm

        You're welcome, Moyo. I'm glad it was helpful!

        Reply
        • Adekemi says

          April 17, 2020 at 3:17 pm

          5 stars
          Thanks for the Africa spice for pepper soup shared, it was so helpful to get the real taste I wanted.

          Reply
          • Tayo says

            April 17, 2020 at 4:53 pm

            Thank you for your feedback, Adekemi. I'm glad the post was helpful!

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