Egusi Ijebu (melon soup)

Married to an Ijebu man, means we cannot go without cooking this soup ever so often. 

Egusi ijebu is that next level egusi in terms of aroma and taste. It does things to your taste buds I can't explain especially if you are new to it.

It derives its wow factor from the toasting of the egusi which creates a unique aroma and taste that's different from the regular egusi.

What I love about this particular soup, it's simplicity... Fuss free to the core. 

Ingredients

Melon seeds (blended)

Crayfish 

Smoked dried catfish 

Mackerel (washed and seasoned)

Smoke prawns 

Dried blended Cameroon pepper

Stock cubes

Onions (blended)

Palm oil

Step 1. Start by adding water, pepper and crayfish to a pot, then place on the cooker to boil. 

 Step 2. Add in the stock cubes, immediately 

Step 3. The palm oil 

Step 4. The washed catfish and prawns.. Cover the pot, then move on to preparing the Egusi 

Step 6. When the water and other ingredients are boiling... Place a frying pan on the cooker, add in the Egusi allowing it to brown a little while you stir to avoid burning, then pour in the blended onions. Your kitchen should be smelling amazing by now.

All the time, continue stirring (this process should take about 3mins)

Step 4. Add in the fish to the boiling mixture in the other pot.

Step 6. Immediately after adding the fish, scoop the melon into the boiling ingredients, then stir (allow to cooking, while stirring on interval  until the oil separate)  

Looking luscious already... Who wouldn't want this with some mean swallow? 

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!!!