Name: Egusi Soup
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 115 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 250 g ground egusi (ground melon seeds); 700 g beef (cut into chunks); 150 g stockfish (soaked and softened); 100 g dried crayfish (ground); 400 g pumpkin leaves (washed and shredded (ugu), or substitute spinach); 100 ml red palm oil; 3 piece scotch bonnet peppers; 2 piece onions (one chopped, one sliced); 4 piece plum tomatoes; 2 tbsp ground dawadawa (fermented locust beans); 1 l beef stock; salt (to taste)

Method

Soften the stockfish

Cover the dried stockfish with water and simmer until it softens enough to flake apart.

30 min

Parboil the beef

Season the beef and simmer it in a pot of water until tender, reserving the cooking liquid as stock.

40 min

Blend the pepper base

Blend the tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers and one onion into a rough puree.

Make the egusi paste

Mix the ground egusi with a little water and a little of the palm oil into a thick, spreadable paste.

Fry the egusi

Heat the remaining palm oil, fry the sliced onion until soft, then fry spoonfuls of the egusi paste, breaking them up, until golden and fragrant.

Let the egusi fry undisturbed for a minute at a time — that's what gives the soup its nutty depth.

10 min

Build the soup

Stir in the pepper puree, the beef stock, the flaked stockfish, the beef, and the ground crayfish and dawadawa.

Simmer the soup

Simmer everything together, uncovered, until the oil rises to the top and the soup thickens.

30 min

Wilt the greens

Stir in the pumpkin leaves and simmer just until they wilt.

5 min

Rest and serve

Let the soup rest for a few minutes off the heat, then serve with pounded yam or rice.

3 min

Egusi Soup

Ingredients

Method

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