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Nigerian Fisherman Soup
4.9 from 138 votes

Nigerian Fisherman Soup

Nigerian Fisherman Soup is a rich seafood stew featuring a mix of fish, sea snails, clams, periwinkles, and shrimp, thickened with a smooth cocoyam puree and flavored with red palm oil, uziza seeds, and bitter leaves. This hearty soup melds diverse seafood textures with earthy, spicy, and slightly bitter herbal notes, providing a complex and savory broth. It is traditionally served with fufu for a complete West African meal.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
50 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Nigerian

Ingredients

  • 2 kg fish fresh
  • 1 kg sea snails
  • 70 g clams
  • 1/4 kg periwinkles
  • 1/2 kg Shrimp
  • 6 cocoyam taro, medium size
  • 1 tbsp uziza seeds false kubeb
  • 2 habanero pepper chopped, yellow
  • 2 stock cube big
  • bitter leaves sliced
  • uziza leaves false kubeb (sliced)
  • 2 tbsps Red Palm Oil or ¼ cup

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Place the peeled, rinsed, and chopped cocoyam in a pot. Add water and cook for 20 minutes, until tender. Drain, then purée in a blender until smooth.
  2. Put the sea snails in a pot with the stock cubes, cover with water, and cook for 20 minutes.
  3. Add the fish, clams, sea snails, shrimp, and ground uziza. If required, top up the water and simmer until fully cooked.
  4. Remove the fish from the saucepan and set aside.
  5. Add the cocoyam in small chunks. Add the palm oil, yellow pepper, and bitter leaves.
  6. Season with salt to taste.
  7. Put the fish back in the soup pot. Stir, then cover and simmer.
  8. When the mixture becomes a slurry and is no longer soupy or stew-like, remove from the heat. Serve with fufu as a side.

Notes