Nigerian Chicken Pepper Soup

     Greetings!! Welcome to this week's From Our Dinner Table! This week the theme is "Kicking it Up with Spicy Recipes" and I had JUST the thing to share. I have been meaning to get to this recipe for, well, years, and not managed it. And it is full of spice. It's hot and spicy from the habanero peppers as well as incredibly spiced from the pepper mix. 

     I dunno about you, but in my neck of the woods, Nigerian cooking is super popular right now. There is a Nigerian restaurant in my area and the owner always has the most delicious-looking dishes on her menu. The problem for me however is that I am allergic to seafood, and crawfish powder is a popular spice in Nigerian cooking. Meaning it's a no-go for me, I usually can't eat a single thing on her menu. But I couldn't just accept that and here we are. I'm writing the recipe as I made it but feel free to add crawfish powder when you add the pepper soup spice for a more authentic flavor.

     So what does pepper soup taste like? If you open the spice blend it's deeply smoky and earthy and didn't smell like anything I was familiar with, which I loved. Once it was cooked the taste was incredibly familiar but I couldn't place it at first. Then it dawned on me, this was reminding me of gumbo. But a richer, fuller, much deeper flavored gumbo. And it is amazing. 

Kicking it Up with Spicy Recipes

• Buffalo Chicken Wraps from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Chicken Pepper Soup from Pandemonium Noshery
• Hatch Chile Masala Bhath from Magical Ingredients
• Hatch Green Chile Corn Fritters from Palatable Pastime
• Jalapeno Popper Crostini from The Spiffy Cookie
• Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers from Art of Natural Living
• Skillet Taco Pasta from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Spicy Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sliders from Jen Around the World
• Spicy Sage Breakfast Sausage from That Recipe

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Nigerian Pepper Soup

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion, quartered

1 red pepper, cut in half

3 cloves garlic, smashed

6 c. water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 - 4 habanero peppers, cut in half

1/2 Tbsp. pepper soup mix

1 Tbsp palm oil

2 Tbsp. parsley leaves

Salt to taste

Cooked rice or fufu to serve

Chop the chicken thighs into sixths or quarters. Add the chicken to a soup pot over medium heat. You want to sweat out the chicken, stir often until the chicken is cooked and turning whiteish. Add the onion, red pepper, garlic cloves, crumbled bouillon cubes, and pepper soup mix. 

Cover the soup pot and cook over low for 20 minutes. You don't want the chicken to stick to the pan, it should release its own juices while cooking. Make sure not to remove the lid while it's cooking unless you think it's sticking. 

Remove the lid and remove the onion, garlic, and red pepper from the soup pot. Take the cooked vegetables and add to a food processor or blender and blend until very chopped but stop just before it's a puree. Add them back to the pan with the palm oil and cook for a few minutes. 

Add the water and habaneros to the soup pot and simmer for 20 minutes more. Taste and add additional bouillon cubes or salt as needed. Continue simmering until the chicken is well cooked but not falling apart. 

Serve with rice or fufu.