I have never for once come to agree with myself on which part of Nigeria has the best soups especially considering the array of soups that are peculiar among the Easterners and the South southerners. You will agree with me that it is a tough competition between these groups of people. While I ponder about this in my small apartment, a female friend who came visiting had a cooler of Isi-Ewu with her.


As I ate a plate of the meaty soup, I could not but ask for more and I felt it would be nice to get the recipe from her and share with you on this platform. Isi- Ewu is made from goat head and I bet a bite will surely convince you to eat more.

How To Cook (Prepare) Isi-ewu (Goat Head Soup)
Here are the ingredients that you need with instructions to prepare your own Isi-ewu at home. Follow the recipe/guide step by step and you are sure to make a delicious pot of Isi-ewu.

The Ingredients For Isi-Ewu
One goat head
2 big Onions bulbs,
2-3 roasted calabash nutmeg,
4 pieces of habenero peppers (Ata rodo),
2 meat flavour seasoning cubes and salt to taste.
20cl or 200ml of Palm oil
Enough water to cook the meat
Tyme, curry and potash (Kaun)
Ground crayfish and sliced Utazi leaves
Note: The utazi leaf is included to add some bitter flavour to the Isi-Ewu while potash (kaun) is added to make the palm oil curdle up.

Pre-Cooking Step In Making Isi-Ewu
Get your goat head chopped into smaller pieces. This could be done by the meat sellers. Wash the entire meat pieces properly using foam and iron sponge to remove dirt particularly in the ears and tongue part. Keep aside.
Wash and slice the fresh utazi leaves into tiny pieces just like you would do for your vegetables and set aside.
Soak a tea spoon of potash or kaun in small amount of water, let it dissolve well and sieve the water; then set aside the water.
Peel, wash and slice one onion bulb into ring forms and set aside.
Blend the other onion bulb and pepper into pasty form. Add only little amount of water if you must blend. It is better if you can pound them. Set aside.

Main Cooking Steps (Instructions)
Place the goat meat pieces into a large pot and place on a cooker
Pour a little amount of water just enough to cook the meat. This is because there is no need for stock water. Add the two cube seasonings, a tea spoon each of thyme and curry. Cook for about 20 minutes.
Add salt and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. When the meat pieces are tender enough, set aside.
In another pot, add palm oil, pour the sieved water of the potash slowly into the pot containing palm oil and stir using a wooden spatula until the oil turns completely yellow.
Add two table spoons of crayfish and stir.
Add the grounded (Ehu seeds) calabash nut meg, grounded or blended onions and pepper (to taste) and less than a handful of sliced utazi leaves. Stir properly.
Pour the cooked goat head meat pieces into this mixture and stir well.
Place on cooker and let it simmer for few minutes under low heat until it is piping hot. Do not forget to cover the pot during the cooking process.
Your Isi Ewu is ready to be served!

In many Nigerian restaurants, Isi Ewu is served in a calabash or some wooden material with a sprinkle of small quantity of onion rings and some slices of fresh Utazi leaves on it. This makes it very native and colourful. I bet you will love it. In less than 1hour, you should be done with the entire process of making this native meal.

I sincerely hope you will find this recipe helpful.

Source: http://www.foodsng.com/learn-how-to-make-isi-ewu-goat-head-meat-soup-at-home/2/