How To Make Moose Nose Soup.
Yes, we know it may seem not that great from the sound of it but in-fact it moose nose soup is one of the best First Nation dishes around. This traditional food has been around for many generations and is considered a delicacy among some Indigenous tribes.
But how do you go about making moose nose soup? What does it taste like? Let’s find out more about what aboriginal people call moose nose soup.
Contents
So What is Moose Nose Soup?
Well, moose nose soup is exactly what the name suggests, a soup made from the nose of a moose.
Moose nose soup is a traditional soup made in much Canada and some parts of the United States. The taste of the moose nose resembles that of dry meat soup.
So How Do We Make It?
So after you went hunting and cutting nose of the moose off your going to want singe (burn) the hair off the nose. To do this your going to have to make a fire.
So using old deadfall from a popular tree you then going to start your fire and let it burn until it is a low-grade fire until the coals are nice and hot.
Making your fire to big will result in burning and hardening of the meat and that’s not what you want.
So after your fire is made you’re going to grab a stick and poke the stick inside the nostril of the moose nose. Then you’re going to hover the moose nose just above the fire for about 5 seconds and take it out.
After it has been taken out you must look at the place where you burned it and begin to scrape the hairs off with a sharp knife. After that, you can repeat the process on different areas of the nose until the nose hairs are completely gone.
You going to have to look very closely too if any other hairs still on the nose. Next, you’re going to look inside both nostrils and you should find tiny patches of hair in there as well.
In order to get them out, you can begin to slightly cut open the nose in order the make the knife fit into the nostril. Before you do this you’re going to heat up a steel rode and heat it up cherry red on the fire and with the hot rod, you’re going to place into the nostril, moving it in circles in order to singe (burn) all the hairs.
After the nostril hair is singed you then must scrap off the burnt hair with a knife.
It’s very important that you do not singe (burn) the moose nose for too long or someone could actually end up getting sick. So not too long and not to short, just right. It should have a golden brown color when done.
Washing The Moose Nose
After burning off all the hair of the moose nose it’s very important to wash off all the black soot that has been collecting on the moose nose. Grabbing a large bowl or pot you going to want to start filling it with cold water.
After the nose is submerged you then just grab a paper towel or cloth and wipe off all the burnt hairs and soot. If you do not wash it however you could get someone sick who eats the unwashed moose nose. So thats why washing it after you have singed (burned) all the hairs is really important.
Cutting And Cooking Up the Moose Nose.
After cleaning the moose nose, next, you’re going to cut it up into 1 ” sized cubes and placing it into a large pot.
Next, you’re going to put salt onto the moose nose but not salt as too much of it will kill the flavor. Next, you’re going to pour cold water into the pot stopping about a 1 inch above of the pieces of moose nose. After that is done you will have to place to pot onto the burner on high for about 6 to 8 hours. Stirring occasionally.
Adding Potatoes
After the pieces of moose nose is nice and tender, your next going to peel, rinse and cube potatoes in bite-sized pieces. With the water still hot you’re then going to put the potatoes into the pot of dry meat then let them cook for about 20 mins. Stir occasionally.
Putting potatoes into moose nose soup is optional as many First Nations elders don’t put potatoes into the soup but it’s also not uncommon to put potatoes into the soup. Potatoes or no potatoes, I will leave that up to you.
Flour Mixture.
A lot of times people make the mistake of putting the flour into the soup in the wrong way and the results in a clumpy, dry kind of soup that you do not want, so we must put the flour in a certain way.
Before putting the flour into the soup you must mix it out of the soup in a large cup or bowl. Using 2 cups of lukewarm water you have to start gradually adding the flour with a tablespoon into the water then mixing it constantly.
If any clumps form inside the water you can press the lump against the inside of the cup or bowl and try to get the flour to mix into the water correctly.
To tell if you have got enough flour in the water is if you take some of the flour water and dump it back in the cup. Look closely at the consistency of the liquid.
If it is still translucent and water then more flour most be added, If it seems thick and the water drops slowly into the cup then it is too thick.
If the flour-water looks not too thin and not too thick then it is perfect. It should somewhat resemble milk.
Lower The Heat.
After your done making your flour mixture you have to make sure that you reduce your heat to low and then put your flour water into the soup.
If you put the flour water into the soup while it is boiling, it will result in clumps forming in the soup and you want to eliminate any clumps that appear.
After you put the flour mixture in the soup, you must then stir the contents and let simmer for about 10 mins.
Then you are done!
Dry meat soup with some wonderful fry bread and pemmican is sure to hit the spot.
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