Egg Egusi Soup

Dare I say Egusi soup is Nigeria's number 1 soup? It really cuts across the country with various ethnic groups making theirs unique from the other. Of course it goes beyond Nigeria to other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa with variants in preparation as well. Today we shall be cooking with another method. This method uses eggs to create and bind the egusi lumps in the sauce. Its really tasty and if you weren't there when it was prepared you wouldn't have a clue that eggs were used.

INGREDIENTS

Dry ground egusi

Bell pepper (Tatashe)

Onions

Scotch Bonnet peppers (ata rodo)

1 raw egg

dried Shrimp

vegetable or palm oil

ground crayfish

Assorted meat

Iru

Bitterleaf (washed)

Stock cubes

METHOD

Mold your lumps and set aside. This is done by mixing in the egusi with the raw eggs by hand. Then use your hand to further mold into small lumps.

Blend your peppers with onions and fry in heated oil.

After 7mins add in the smoke prawns (always wash to remove dirts and sands)

Next the locust beans (iru), cray fish and stock cubes...

Then the washed smoked turkey.. Stir and cover with a lid, allowing to cook for 2mins

After 2mins, add in the melons.. (If you find the peppers too thick at this point, just add in little water).

Stir gently , then cover to cook for 6-8mins.. Now taste for enough stock or salt

Next add in the washed bitter leaves 

Stir, allowing to simmer for few mins, the oil used should at this point settled at the top.

Serve with any swallow (eba, pounded yam, semovita, even rice etc).. I prefare mine with COLD EBA

YUMMY TOASTED LUMPY EGUSI SOUP WITH UGU(PUMPKIN LEAVE)

Egusi soup is one soup that's very versatile in its cooking and eating. It can be cooked in hundreds of ways and it can be eaten with tons of accompaniments e.g. Rice, Eba, Fufu.
Its quite popular across West Africa and very easy to cook.
Here's a combination of two of my favourite methods...toasted and lumpy!

INGREDIENTS

Cooked and/or fried meat and fish of your choice

2 Cups of dry ground egusi (melon seeds)

Ground Crayfish

Seasoning Cube

Palm Oil

Water/meat stock

1 raw egg

Dry ground pepper

Ugu(Pumpkin)

Wet blend Onions

Let the cooking begin..............

Toast your egusi on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes on a pan. Stir Continuously to avoid it getting burnt. (You can also toast whole seed egusi before blending). The smell is amazing!!!

                                 I prefer mine, toasted just like this.

Mix in your egg and mould all together to create a big lump. This lump would be used to create smaller lumps that would be dropped in the soup.

 Heat up the oil and fry the blended onions.

Now add your lumps in the mix.

Add your ground crayfish, then ground pepper to the mix. Fry for about 5 minutes with continued stirring.

 Add your water and meat stock if you have any.

 Allow to boil a little then stir gently.

 Taste for salt if you used meat stock, then add stock cube to your taste.

 Add your meat and fish.

Add your veggies. I used Ugu (Pumpkin leaves). Stir gently, allow cook for another 7-10 minutes and its ready.

EGUSI PEPPERSOUP

Egusi pepper soup  is a popular pepper soup variation in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. It's simply a spicy peppersoup thickened with egusi and can be enjoyed with rice, pounded yam, eba or any swallow of your choice and its particularly delightful to have on a cold day.
If u ever needed something to warm your innards and keep the cold at bay on a cold evening, this soup is for you.

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This soup can be cooked with any meat or fish of your choice but to give it a kick I'll recommend goat meat or catfish. To take it to the next level simply add some dried catfish or any good quality dried fish. The flavor profile simply does things to your brains and you just don't want it to end!
I didn't have any dried fish on the day I cooked it though, being a sunday evening after church and a couple of visits, I just couldn't be bothered to leave my house again to pursue that but it did come out awesome!!!

Ingredients:
Goat meat about 10 medium cut pieces
Knorr cubes (not pictured)
Delta Peppersoup spices (african nutmeg, ehuru,eriérié) Or any good quality peppersoup spice blend*
1 tablespoon dried pepper
1 cup of egusi blended dry (a wet blend can also be used)
1 tablespoon ground dried crayfish
1 teaspoon dried bitter leaf*

*Even when I use a storebought pepper soup mix I also add some of mine at home to achieve my desired taste. Pictured is one bought fro Ebeano stores in Lekki, Lagos. I'll say its one of the best store mixes I've tried.

*Other leaves that can be used are ukazi and scent leaf.

 fresh goat meat

 spices, seasonings and egusi.

 store bought peppersoup mix

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Season your meat with the knorr cubes (or any bouillon/stock cube of your choice, avoid anything too exotic as you don't want to disrupt the peppersoup taste).
Cook for about 45 minutes or until your meat is soft enough for your preference.

Begin adding the other ingredients. First goes in the pepper...

Next your ground crayfish...

 Add your peppersoup spices after you have removed the shells and crushed or blended. Stir it all.

Now add the egusi and stir again. The amount of egusi you use shouldn't be too much. This is meant to be a slightly watery soup but not too watery either.

EMERGENCY!!!
Unfortunately at this stage, I discovered my soup was slightly salty!!! I threw in some slices of sweet potatoes to help absorb some of the salt! This rescued my soup, whew!!!
Allow the soup cook for about 10 more minutes after adding all your ingredients and its ready to eat.

Here's the soup served with some semovita. This is one soup to try if you've never eaten it before. Switch things up a little and enjoy!!!