Egusi Soup

Ingredients

• 200 g ground egusi (melon seeds)
• 600 g stewing beef, in chunks
• 400 g spinach or callaloo, shredded
• 120 ml red palm oil
• 2 onions, one blended and one chopped
• 2 red peppers
• 2 scotch bonnets
• 800 ml beef stock
• 200 g prawns or smoked fish
• 2 tsp stock powder or yeast extract

Method

1. Blend the pepper base

   Blend one onion with the red peppers and scotch bonnets into a smooth purée. Meanwhile simmer the beef in seasoned water until tender, keeping the stock.

   1 h

2. Make an egusi paste

   Mix the ground egusi with a little water into a thick paste. Ground melon seed is the thickener and the body of the soup — it is not a garnish.

3. Bloom the palm oil

   Heat the palm oil until it just loosens and turns fluid, then add the chopped onion. Do not let it smoke or bleach — overheated palm oil loses its colour and turns acrid, and its deep red is half the character of the dish.

   5 min

4. Fry the pepper base

   Add the blended peppers and cook for 15 minutes until it darkens and the oil separates out, then add the stock and seasoning.

   15 min

5. Drop the egusi in lumps

   Spoon the egusi paste in as separate blobs and do not stir for 10 minutes. Left alone, they set into soft curds through the soup; stirred straight in, the egusi dissolves and you lose the texture entirely. Add the beef and prawns.

   10 min

6. Greens last

   Stir in the spinach and cook five more minutes. Serve with pounded yam, rice or fufu.

   5 min