How to Prepare Egusi soup

Hey Darlings!!!

 

So,if you’re not Nigerian, you’re probably wondering…’What the heck is Egusi???!!!’
But,if you’re Nigerian and you want to prepare the most delicious Egusi soup of all time,for that special someone, family or just for yourself,You have come to the right blog!

There are several ways to prepare Egusi soup but the best is the ‘Caking Method’

So,let’s gather our ingredients…
INGREDIENTS;

*Visit your local market or the African Food Shop closest to you if you’re abroad,and shop for the freshest ingredients.

• Egusi. 

You should purchase the already ground one,or buy a grinder and do it yourself at home.

• Red meat- One Kilogram
• Stock fish
• Dry fish
• Crayfish-You should purchase the ground one too.
• Pepper and Onions-Add pepper in a way you’ll prefer. Three to Four bulbs of Onion would do.
• Palm oil.-1/3 of a litre.
• Ogiri.(This adds a traditional taste to the soup. The Yoruba call it ‘Ori’
• Seasoning.
• Vegetables.-Use Nigerian Pumpkin leaves ‘Ugu’ and you could also use Bitter leaves.
• Salt.

The ingredients above are for three servings.

COOKING DIRECTIONS;

Cooking duration; 30minutes…

Now put on your aprons because the fun has just begun!!!!

-Begin by soaking the stockfish and dry fish in hot water. If the stockfish is the hard type, then you’ll just have to boil it.

-Wash the red meat and Dry meat then  put in a pot with water barely covering them. Also add Onion, Pepper and Seasoning to the meat. Cook till tender.

-While your meat is still on the boil, wash and cut your vegetables. Keep in a warm corner in your kitchen.

-By this time, your meat and fish should be tender. But if it still isn’t,and the water is beginning to dry up, add more water and let boil.

-Grab a clean pot and add palm oil,let fry for a bit then add the ground Egusi. Stir and fry. Let every itsy bitsy grain of the Egusi get it’s own share of the Palm oil. You’ll know this has happened when the Egusi is evenly coloured yellow.

Stir and fry. I’m really emphasizing on the stirring because if you don’t stir periodically, it’ll burn!!!

So, now add your meat stock while still stirring… Continue to add until it achieves consistency. Let it not be too thick. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes. The oil would separate from the Egusi.

 

Stir. Stir. Stir.

At this stage, add the bitter leaves .

Wait a bit, and add pepper and ground crayfish. Also add the Pumpkin leaves at this stage.  Stir. (Alternatively, you could use spinaches.)

Add Ogiri.

Add your meat,stock fish and dry meat.

Add salt to your taste.

Cover and let simmer… Now your kitchen is filled with that wonderful aroma.

Serve hot with Fufu, Pounded yam or  Eba. Enjoy!!!!

If you had fun, like and leave comments below. I’d really love to hear from you!!!

I’m Sunshine and I love you!😘💝

 

Advertisement