Cooking Delicious Bitter Leaf Soup: A Step-by-Step Guide [15:04:2025]

Today, 15th April 2025, I had the pleasure of stocking my refrigerator with a mouth-watering bitter leaf soup, a popular Nigerian delicacy. The aroma that filled my kitchen was incredible, and I couldn't wait to share my cooking experience with you.

Here's a rundown of the ingredients and the process I followed to prepare this tasty soup.

• Bitter leaf (washed and drained)
• Fish (Fresh Scumbia)
• Crayfish
• Onions (chopped)
• Fresh Pepper (ground)
• Maggi cubes
• Waterleaf
• Mellon (grated)
• Water
• Salt
• Palm oil
• Kanda
• Periwinkle

I started by washing the bitter leaf thoroughly with water to remove any dirt or bitterness. I then drained the leaves and chopped before I squeezed to remove the bitterness and set them aside. Next I placed the fish pieces in a pot, added some water, and boiled until they were cooked through. I removed the fish from the pot and set it aside.

In a separate pan, I heated some palm oil over medium heat. I added the chopped onions and sauted until they were translucent. Then, I added the crayfish and stir-fried for about 2 minutes. I then added the washed bitter leaf to the pan and stir-fried for about 5 minutes, allowing the leaf to soften. Then, I added the ground pepper, Maggi cubes, and salt to taste.

I added the waterleaf and grated Mellon to the pan and stir-fried for another 2 minutes. Before added the cooked fish back into the pan and stirred well to combine with the bitter leaf mixture.

After which I added some water to the pan to achieve the desired consistency. Then put the washed periwinkle and finally, I allowed the soup to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavours had melded together and the soup had thickened slightly.

	Water leaf

Periwinkle

Serving: My delicious bitter leaf soup is now ready, after preserving some in the refrigerator, I served with garri (eba) and enjoyed the meal with my boy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know if you have any questions.