HOW TO PREPARE NIGERIAN EGUSI SOUP
ingredients
4 cups (500g) Egusi (Melon) seeds
3 cooking spoons red palm oil
Beef: best cut and Shaki (cow tripe)
Fish: dry fish and stockfish
2 tablespoons ground crayfish
Pepper and Salt (to taste)
Vegetable: Nigerian pumpkin leaves, spinach or
bitter leaf
3 small stock cubes
1 small ogiri okpei (optional)
Important tool
Spice grinder for grinding egusi (melon) seeds:
Buy it in USA | in UK (Krups Twin Blade Grinder)
Notes on the ingredients
1. To be honest, I may have put 3 cooking spoo
of palm oil up there but you will need more.
You want the quantity of palm oil that will turn
every grain of the ground egusi yellow. See
video below. If the ground egusi is not well
coated, it will burn during frying and the
resulting Egusi Soup will be dry and have a
burnt taste. If you are concerned about the
quantity of palm oil you will used for this soup
it is best to prepare your egusi soups using th
Caking Method .
2. The best meat for Nigerian soups for swallow
is red meat with beef being the most common
You can also use goat meat. I have seen som
people cook Egusi Soup with chicken, that's fi
but the elders will not like it.
3. If you use chicken, please do not use dry fish
and stockfish because those two cannot co-
exist with chicken in the same Nigerian pot.
4. If using bitter leaves, add it a bit earlier becau
it is a tough vegetable (see the cooking
directions below). Remember that they need t
be washed to remove all the bitterness unless
your family prefers it with the bitter taste.
5. Ogiri okpei is made with locust beans. It is
known as iru in Yoruba. It adds a traditional
taste to Egusi Soup.
Before you cook Egusi Soup
1. Before preparing the soup, soak the dry fish a
stock fish till soft. If you are using the very
tough stockfish, boil it for 20 minutes and leav
in the pot with the hot water to soak for about
an hour. If using the softer stockfish, you can
just soak them in cool water till you can break
them apart with your hands.
2. When the fish and stockfish are soft, de-bone
and break them into sizeable chunks.
3. Much closer to your cooking time, grind the
egusi with a dry mill. Grind the crayfish and th
dry pepper separately and set aside.
4. Rinse the vegetables to be used and cut into
tiny pieces.
5. Cook the beef and fish with the stock cubes ti
they are well done. You should start cooking t
toughest meat and fish first and add the other
as they get done. If using a normal pot, I will
start with stockfish and shaki, add beef after
about 1 hour and cook till done. I can add the
dry fish when all the other meat and fish are
cooked because it is already cooked, you just
need to cook it long enough till it is soft and
integrated with the rest of the ingredients. Wit
a pressure pot, I do it differently but that is a
process for another post.
6. Set all these aside.
Cooking Directions
1. Pour the red palm oil into a dry pot and set o
the stove to heat. As soon as the oil melts, ad
the ground egusi and start frying. If the oil is
not congealed, add the egusi as soon as the o
is translucent. Mix the ground egusi with oil til
every grain of egusi turns yellow.
2. Start stirring the egusi on low to medium heat.
Keep stir-frying for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the meat/fish stock (water from cooking
the fish and meat) little by little while still
stirring the egusi. So you add a bit of the stoc
stir-fry for some time, add another, stir-fry and
so on. When the stock is exhausted and you
feel that the soup is still too thick, you can sta
adding hot water in the same way till you get
the consistency you want. If your choice of
vegetable is bitter leaf, add it at this time.
4. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes, stirrin
at intervals. Also, top up the water when
necessary. If you don't stir it, it will burn. It
takes 30 minutes to cook egusi properly else
the soup will not taste nice to someone with
authentic Nigerian taste buds. Also, egusi that
is not cooked long enough may cause upset
stomach. The egusi is done when you notice
that the oil has separated from the mix.
5. Once you are happy that it is done, add the
ground crayfish and pepper. Stir and add the
Nigerian pumpkin leaves or spinach
(alternative).
6. Stir very well and add the cooked stockfish,
shaki and meat.
7. Add salt if necessary. If it is too thick, add
some water to bring it to a consistency you lik
8. Cover and leave to simmer and it is done!
4 cups (500g) Egusi (Melon) seeds
3 cooking spoons red palm oil
Beef: best cut and Shaki (cow tripe)
Fish: dry fish and stockfish
2 tablespoons ground crayfish
Pepper and Salt (to taste)
Vegetable: Nigerian pumpkin leaves, spinach or
bitter leaf
3 small stock cubes
1 small ogiri okpei (optional)
Important tool
Spice grinder for grinding egusi (melon) seeds:
Buy it in USA | in UK (Krups Twin Blade Grinder)
Notes on the ingredients
1. To be honest, I may have put 3 cooking spoo
of palm oil up there but you will need more.
You want the quantity of palm oil that will turn
every grain of the ground egusi yellow. See
video below. If the ground egusi is not well
coated, it will burn during frying and the
resulting Egusi Soup will be dry and have a
burnt taste. If you are concerned about the
quantity of palm oil you will used for this soup
it is best to prepare your egusi soups using th
Caking Method .
2. The best meat for Nigerian soups for swallow
is red meat with beef being the most common
You can also use goat meat. I have seen som
people cook Egusi Soup with chicken, that's fi
but the elders will not like it.
3. If you use chicken, please do not use dry fish
and stockfish because those two cannot co-
exist with chicken in the same Nigerian pot.
4. If using bitter leaves, add it a bit earlier becau
it is a tough vegetable (see the cooking
directions below). Remember that they need t
be washed to remove all the bitterness unless
your family prefers it with the bitter taste.
5. Ogiri okpei is made with locust beans. It is
known as iru in Yoruba. It adds a traditional
taste to Egusi Soup.
Before you cook Egusi Soup
1. Before preparing the soup, soak the dry fish a
stock fish till soft. If you are using the very
tough stockfish, boil it for 20 minutes and leav
in the pot with the hot water to soak for about
an hour. If using the softer stockfish, you can
just soak them in cool water till you can break
them apart with your hands.
2. When the fish and stockfish are soft, de-bone
and break them into sizeable chunks.
3. Much closer to your cooking time, grind the
egusi with a dry mill. Grind the crayfish and th
dry pepper separately and set aside.
4. Rinse the vegetables to be used and cut into
tiny pieces.
5. Cook the beef and fish with the stock cubes ti
they are well done. You should start cooking t
toughest meat and fish first and add the other
as they get done. If using a normal pot, I will
start with stockfish and shaki, add beef after
about 1 hour and cook till done. I can add the
dry fish when all the other meat and fish are
cooked because it is already cooked, you just
need to cook it long enough till it is soft and
integrated with the rest of the ingredients. Wit
a pressure pot, I do it differently but that is a
process for another post.
6. Set all these aside.
Cooking Directions
1. Pour the red palm oil into a dry pot and set o
the stove to heat. As soon as the oil melts, ad
the ground egusi and start frying. If the oil is
not congealed, add the egusi as soon as the o
is translucent. Mix the ground egusi with oil til
every grain of egusi turns yellow.
2. Start stirring the egusi on low to medium heat.
Keep stir-frying for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the meat/fish stock (water from cooking
the fish and meat) little by little while still
stirring the egusi. So you add a bit of the stoc
stir-fry for some time, add another, stir-fry and
so on. When the stock is exhausted and you
feel that the soup is still too thick, you can sta
adding hot water in the same way till you get
the consistency you want. If your choice of
vegetable is bitter leaf, add it at this time.
4. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes, stirrin
at intervals. Also, top up the water when
necessary. If you don't stir it, it will burn. It
takes 30 minutes to cook egusi properly else
the soup will not taste nice to someone with
authentic Nigerian taste buds. Also, egusi that
is not cooked long enough may cause upset
stomach. The egusi is done when you notice
that the oil has separated from the mix.
5. Once you are happy that it is done, add the
ground crayfish and pepper. Stir and add the
Nigerian pumpkin leaves or spinach
(alternative).
6. Stir very well and add the cooked stockfish,
shaki and meat.
7. Add salt if necessary. If it is too thick, add
some water to bring it to a consistency you lik
8. Cover and leave to simmer and it is done!
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