Egusi soup

Ingredients

Meats and stock

• 800 gbeef chuck, cut in 4 cm chunks
• 300 gshaki (tripe), scrubbed and cut in strips
• 250 gponmo (cow skin), cut in squares
• 60 gstockfish head, soaked overnight
• 2 tspsalt
• 1onion, chopped
• 2stock cubes
• 1 tspground ehuru (calabash nutmeg), optional

Egusi paste

• 300 gegusi (white melon seeds), ground fine
• 1onion, blended
• 150 mlwater

Soup base

• 250 mlred palm oil
• 2 tbspiru (fermented locust beans)
• 40 gground dried crayfish
• 4scotch bonnets, blended
• 1 tbspground dried chilli
• 400 gbitterleaf, washed and squeezed until barely bitter
• 200 gugu (fluted pumpkin) leaf, shredded

Directions

1. Season the beef, shaki and ponmo with onion, stock cubes and salt and boil with just enough water to cover – shaki and ponmo first for 45 minutes, then the beef for 30, then the soaked stockfish for the last 15. Keep the stock; you should have about 1.2 litres.
2. Blend the ground egusi with the onion and water to a thick, spreadable paste like wet plaster. It should hold a ridge.
3. Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat for 2 minutes until it flows freely and turns bright orange – do not let it smoke or bleach white.
4. Drop the egusi paste into the oil in tablespoon-sized lumps. Do not stir. Let them fry undisturbed 8 minutes so a crust sets, then turn once and fry 5 minutes more; the oil should smell toasted and nutty.
5. Add the blended pepper, iru and crayfish and fry 5 minutes until the raw pepper smell lifts.
6. Pour in the hot meat stock a ladle at a time, keeping the egusi in lumps if you want the caked style, or breaking it up with the spoon for the smooth style. Simmer uncovered 25 minutes until the oil separates and floats in a red film.
7. Return all the meats and the stockfish, taste for salt and simmer 10 minutes.
8. Stir in the squeezed bitterleaf and simmer 5 minutes, then fold in the ugu and cook 3 minutes only – it should stay dark green, not khaki.
9. Rest off the heat 10 minutes so the oil rises, then serve very hot with pounded yam or eba, eaten by hand.

Technique

• The lumpy or caked egusi style, where the paste fries into curds before liquid goes in, is the older Yoruba method and gives the toasted flavour that boiled egusi never develops.
• Bitterleaf must be washed and squeezed repeatedly under running water until only a pleasant background bitterness remains; unwashed leaf makes the soup inedible.
• Palm oil should be melted, not heated to smoking. Bleached oil loses its carotene sweetness and gives the soup a harsh edge.

Substitutions

• No egusi? Ground pumpkin seeds are the closest match, though they lack egusi’s slight bitterness and set less firmly.
• Frozen bitterleaf from an African grocer is already washed; use 200 g and add it with the ugu.

Variations

• Egusi elegusi, the Yoruba caked version with big fried curds of melon seed.
• Ofe egusi, the Igbo version thickened smooth and often made with ogiri and uziza leaf.

History

Built around ground melon seeds, egusi, a crop that has been cultivated in West Africa long enough that its use as a soup thickener predates any written record of the dish, likely developed independently by Yoruba, Igbo and other ethnic groups now living within Nigeria’s borders rather than by any single one first. The ground seeds are typically fried or simmered into a thick, nutty paste with palm oil, leafy greens and meat or fish, and the specific greens, protein and exact preparation vary significantly by ethnic group and region, meaning egusi soup is less a single fixed recipe than a shared technique with many distinct regional and family versions, all built around the same thickening seed.

Frequently asked questions

What is Egusi soup?

Egusi soup is a soup & stew from Nigeria: melon-seed soup with bitterleaf and assorted meats, eaten with pounded yam. Built around ground melon seeds, egusi, a crop that has been cultivated in West Africa long enough that its use as a soup thickener predates any written record of the dish, likely developed independently by Yoruba, Igbo and other ethnic groups now living within Nigeria’s borders rather than by any single one first. The ground seeds are typically fried or simmered into a thick, nutty paste with palm oil, leafy greens and meat or fish, and the specific greens, protein and exact preparation vary significantly by ethnic group and region, meaning egusi soup is less a single fixed recipe than a shared technique with many distinct regional and family versions, all built around the same thickening seed.

How long does Egusi soup take to make?

Egusi soup takes 35 min of preparation and 1 hr 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Egusi soup?

Yes, within limits. No egusi? Ground pumpkin seeds are the closest match, though they lack egusi’s slight bitterness and set less firmly. Frozen bitterleaf from an African grocer is already washed; use 200 g and add it with the ugu.

What is the most important thing to get right in Egusi soup?

Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat for 2 minutes until it flows freely and turns bright orange – do not let it smoke or bleach white.