Nigerian Egusi soup is by far the most common Nigerian soup yet. From home kitchens to “bukas“( small eateries), to five star restaurants in Kano, Aba, Lagos and Uyo, this soup appears on many menu lists. As with most dishes regional variations in the recipe abound. You hear of Yoruba Egusi, Ibo Egusi , Plasas. Ghanians use it in Kontomire a soup cooked with egusi and cocoyam leaves.
The main ingredient in Nigerian Egusi soup is the melon seed which is rich in oils and protein. With the oil content of the melon seed, you should be very economical in the use of palm oil. Rather you can use ground tomatoes to brighten the colour of your soup.
The method of having small chunks of Egusi in the soup is somewhat a southwest Nigeria style,whilst the south east version has the Egusi more dispersed in the soup.
Vegetables like bitter leaves ,ugwu, water leaves , spinach are perfect for your Egusi soup. The Melon seed itself has many variants, Ibo or Yoruba. The traders in the market sell the hand peeled version more expensive than machine peel. Talk of “designer” version.
I prefer to use the Ibo version because of its thickening characteristic. My twist in this recipe is the roasting of the Egusi and the use of plenty of onion. I find that the roasting of the Egusi takes out the raw Egusi flavor and reduces soup cooking time as you do not have to boil the soup for long. More importantly the flavour of the soup is so much appealing.
I am using water leaves and bitter leaves another combination that works well with this soup. In Calabar, this version is called Plasas, actually the older women call it “brasas”.Plasas is borrowed from Sierra Leone where a similar soup exists.
Served with practically every carbohydrate accompaniment, Nigerian Egusi Soup remains a winner in Nigeria on the Nigerian soup list
Recipe for Nigerian Egusi Soup
Ingredient
8 pieces Beef
Eight pieces Cowskin
8 small pieces Shaki (beef tripe) (optional)
4 pieces Stockfish chunks
2 handfuls smoked Fish
21/2 cups Egusi
4 handfuls Water leaves( chopped)
2 balls Bitter leaves (washed and chopped)
Two cooking spoons Tomatoes/Pepper blend
2 large onion bulb( chopped)
21/2 cup smoked Prawns
1 table spoon Crayfish( ground)
4 bulbs yellow Pepper or to taste
1 beef seasoning cube( for boiling beef)
1 crayfish seasoning tablet
2 cooking spoons Palm oil
2 liters Water
Salt to taste
Method
1,Season the beef, shaki, and pomo with beef seasoning, 1/2 onion, 2 chopped yellow pepper and salt, steam in the meat juice till dry, this helps the seasoning to get into the meat very well.
2, Add water and continue to boil till meat is almost cooked.
3, Depending on texture of stock fish add at begining or when meat is almost cooked.
4, Whe meat is almost cooked add washed smoked fish and shrimps ground crayfish and cook for 10 minutes.
5, Set pot of meat aside whilst you prepare other ingredients.
6, Pour previously washed and sun dried Egusi into a dry frying pan or pot an dry fry .
7, Fry Egusi until some seeds start to pop like pop corn, but do not allow to brown. Frying for about 5 minutes is fine.
8, Allow Egusi to cool and blend.
9, Heat the palm oil , add remaining chopped onion fry for 1 minute and add tomatoes/pepper blend and fry for 10 minutes.
10, Pour in the meat stock and crayfish seasoning, about 2litres of water and boil for 10 minutes
11, Add the ground Egusi and cook for 6minutes. Taste for salt
12, Pour in the meat and cook for 5 minutes
13, Add the vegetables and a cook for another 3 minutes and soup is ready
i love the way u serve ur meal, am trying this new method out soon. await my feedback.
a cameroonian girl just want to taste nigerian recipes. I jiust like it
Hi Adry. I am sure you will enjoy. One of these days I will feature Ndole:).
i always trust de soup of my tribe hail the igbos
you are doing a great job, but pls it is ugu and not ugwu, Igbo not ibo, thanks
Hi,Chidiebere. Thanks for the contribution. Appreciate.
Hmmm, can’t wait to try this but my dad does not eat fried thing how do I go about it in this case?
Hi Payche.You can avoid frying and cook the soup without heat u the oil. Wish you good success in trying this dish.
Dats great,pls how caan I get more of your recipe
Hi Aisha. Please follow me on the blog and you will get the recipes.
Hi, you might want to check this out: http://www.africafoodnetwork.com/how-to-make-nigerian-egusi-soup/#.Uz_DGlxt3wI
Hi Nky, thanks for drawing my attention to the use of my post. It’s the challenge of social media. I have now learnt to sufficiently brand my pictures.
Thank you so much Ma, for the 1st time i got my egusi soup right. My family emptied and crapped my pot. Thanks a lot!
Hello Vickie, you are most welcome . I am happy your family enjoyed my Egusi recipe.
i wish i saw this before i cooked egusi last night, it turned out nice but the palm oil was too much. i served it with wheat meal.
How I wish i saw this before now..made egusi soup last night
Hi, Ij. Not to worry, you can try this recipe next time Egusi is on the menu..
Loving this egusi soup.
I enjoyed this recipe just like the one at egusisoup.com
Am greatfull for this wonderful post. Keep it up
Hello Alfred. Thanks for the kind words.
hi is very good cooking egusi soup but dis one i cooked dis night get burned.