Jamaican Mannish Water Soup
Jamaican Mannish Water Soup is a traditional goat soup enjoyed by many. It’s also known as Jamaican Goat Head Soup. This broth-based soup is best enjoyed during the Christmas and Easter holidays.
Mannish Water is an aquiredly delicious goat broth that many Caribbean people enjoy.
Traditionally, growing up, this soup was always the appetizer or starter at many family gatherings.
This soup dish is perfect for family holidays, even funerals and weddings. Well, if you’re from Jamaica, then this will certainly be on the menu.
When I first made this recipe on my own, I used the meat my in-laws gave me from their very own farm.
They raise cage-free animals, from chickens to goats, and how organic can we get with cage-free?
I’ve always wanted to share this recipe with you guys, and I’m so glad the opportunity is here for me to do this today.
What Is Mannish Water?
Mannish Water is a broth-based goat soup in Jamaican cuisine.
Traditionally enjoyed during the Christmas and Easter holidays.
But you can also find this dish at stage shows, parties, or family gatherings, such as funerals (nine-night service) and even weddings.
One of the many highlights of this unique soup recipe is that some consider it an aphrodisiac within the Caribbean.
This soup is done authentically using various parts of the goat, including the goat’s head and genitalia.
I know these ingredients sound strange to some, but they can be omitted and still receive the same delicious taste.
Ingredients To Use
What makes a great meat-based soup is the type of meat, various ground provisions, and a few herbs and spices for aromatics and flavors.
- Goat Meat: parts of the goat can include the meat, head, and feet
- Aromatics: thyme, escallion, pimento seeds, garlic
- Vegetable/Ground Provision: pumpkin, green bananas, potato, carrots
- Spices/Seasoning: all-purpose seasoning, salt, scotch bonnet pepper
- Goat Noodle Soup
- Spinnners Dumpling
- Water
How To Make Mannish Water Soup
What I love most about making different types of soup is that getting started is always so easy.
Making this soup just reminds me so much of home, mostly because my mom loves soup.
She taught me how to make a good soup base, and the rest of the soup is even simpler.
For a more detailed guide, see the recipe card below.
Steps:
- Wash and clean the goat meat in a bowl with clean water, vinegar, and lime.
- In a large pressure cooker pot, add goat meat, salt, water, pimento seeds, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Allow the meat to cook for 20 minutes. Cover with a pressure cooker cover and cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and COOL for 5 -10 minutes under running water.
- Return to heat and bring back to a boil. Add more water if needed.
- Add thyme, pumpkin, carrot, and green banana to the soup base and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir in soup mix and all-purpose seasoning, then continue simmering for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, make dumpling dough and set it aside.
- Add the remaining ingredients – dumplings, potato, escallion, and scotch bonnet pepper.
- Stir and cook for another 10 minutes or until the soup comes together.
- Adjust to taste.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Serving Suggestions
Soups are often an appetizer to a full-course meal.
Many Caribbean folks have their mannish water or any other soup with no additional meals.
- Fresh salad
- Toasted/Untoasted bread
Tips For Making Mannish Water
Here are some of my best tips when making this recipe:
- Always start your soup base with pimento, salt, and garlic. This helps get the flavors going throughout your soup.
- You can also add other ingredients, such as sweet potato, yams, plantains, and cassava.
- If you don’t have a pressure cooker pot, you can cook your goat meat on the stovetop for about 1-2 hours or until the meat slides off the bone.
- Serve with your favorite side of bread.
- Get creative with this dish; you can add other ingredients such as yams, sweet potatoes, and cho-cho (chayote).
- After cooling, the soup can form a clear, thin film on the top; this is due to the boiled collagen from the goat meat.
- NEVER open the pressure cooker pot when hot. Allow the pot to cool under running water before opening it.
Why Should You Make This Recipe?
- Budget Friendly: simple ingredients you can find in your pantry right now
- Easy-To-Make: from preparation to cooking, this will be an easy recipe
- Perfect Starter: perfect appetizer to any full-course meal
- Great for Meal-Prep: I enjoy this recipe for breakfast, along with a light fruit salad after
Storage Tips
Store your soup in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 2-4 days.
Back home, this dish would be gone in 2 days, because it’s just three of us, and it will taste even better overnight.
Other Jamaican Recipes:
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Jamaican Mannish Water Soup
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1-2 lb goat meat cut into medium sizes
- 2-4 cloves garlic whole or crushed
- 1 cup pumpkin finely diced
- 2-3 green bananas sliced; skin on for some
- 1 large carrot finely diced
- 1 large russet potato finely diced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 stalks escallion crushed
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp all-purpose seasoning
- 1 pkg ram goat soup mix
- 6 cups water
- A few pimento seeds
Spinners Dumpling:
- 1 cup flour
- Water
Instructions
Directions
- Wash and clean the goat meat in a bowl with clean water, vinegar, and lime.
- In a large pressure cooker pot, add goat meat, salt, water, pimento seeds, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Allow the meat to cook for 20 minutes. Cover with a pressure cooker cover and cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and COOL for 5 -10 minutes under running water.
- Return to heat and bring back to a boil. Add more water if needed.
- Add thyme, pumpkin, carrot, and green banana to the soup base and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir in soup mix and all-purpose seasoning, then continue simmering for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, make dumpling dough and set it aside.
- Add the remaining ingredients – dumplings, potato, escallion, and scotch bonnet pepper.
- Stir and cook for another 10 minutes or until the soup comes together.
- Adjust to taste.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Directions for Spinners Dumpling:
- Sift the flour into a bowl, then add small amounts of water at a time and combine to make a stiff dough.
- Pinch small pieces of the dough and rub them between your palms. This will form long-shaped dumplings. Drop into the soup when ready.
Notes
Notes for Making Mannish Water
- Serve with your favorite side of bread.
- Get creative with this dish; you can add other ingredients such as yams, sweet potatoes, and cho-cho (chayote).
- After cooling, the soup can form a clear, thin film on the top; this is due to the boiled collagen from the goat meat. NEVER open the pressure cooker pot when hot. Allow the pot to cool under running water before opening it.
