Uziza Leaves – Dried Nigerian Pepper Leaf, Cut & Sifted

Uziza

Dried uziza leaf, cut and sifted. The peppery green note in pepper soup, nsala and ofe ugba, and the thing your soup is missing if it tastes flat but you cannot say why.

Not the same as uziza seed. The leaf is aromatic and mildly hot. The seed is much sharper. This is the leaf.

How to use it

1. Add it at the very end. Last two or three minutes of cooking. That is the whole technique.
2. Long boiling destroys the aroma and leaves only bitterness. This is the mistake almost everyone makes.
3. Start with a teaspoon for a medium pot. Uziza is assertive.

What it goes into

• Pepper soup, goat, catfish or chicken
• Ofe nsala, white soup, where it is essential
• Ofe ugba and ofe achi
• Yam porridge and stewed beans
• The traditional hot drink taken after childbirth

Taste

Warm, peppery and slightly bitter, closer to black pepper than chilli. It gives heat you feel at the back of the throat rather than on the tongue.

Product details

• Also known as: uziza, Ashanti pepper leaf, West African pepper leaf, Piper guineense
• Form: Dried, cut and sifted
• Size: 2oz
• Storage: Sealed jar, away from light and heat. Aroma fades once opened, so use within a few months.

Shipped from Nexxtmart to anywhere in the United States.