Ras Koruf soup, lamb head soup

Ras Koruf Soup, lamb head soup

This is a delicious light soup made by boiling a seared lamb head in water. We call the lamb’s head soup “Ras Koruf” soup in Arabic.  South Sudan, similar to many African countries, does not leave any part of a domestic food animal to waste.  The skin is sheared and dried for leather.  The tail bones make a hearty soup, the leg bones and neck bones suffer a similar fate. The brain is lightly fried in oil and then kept to grease the flat pan when making Kisra. To prepare the lamb head, first, sear it over an open flame to singe off any hairs. Then wash it in hot water, and scrape all the singed hairs off. Slow cook the lamb head in a large pot in 3 L of water for 2 to 3 hours. Cook it with tomatoes, onions, celery, a touch of peanut butter and 1 serrano pepper to give the extra kick. This soup is the breakfast specialty for the morning after the main event. I was lucky to find a ras Koruf in my halal meat store, unfortunately they had removed the skin already. Nevertheless, we proceeded to sear it first to give it a smoked flavor.