Egusi soup is one of the most popular soups cooked and eaten in Nigeria. It is accepted in all the regions of the country, such that it has become a national soup. There are various reasons why egusi is widely eaten and accepted in Nigeria.
Egusi, a soup rich in fats and oil, is not only nutritious but also sweet when it is cooked very well. The ingredients for making egusi, especially egusi seeds, can be easily obtained in any location in Nigeria. The soup is easy to cook, and it doesn’t need many ingredients and spices to turn out well. Egusi can be cooked by the rich and the poor, meaning that it is an affordable soup a Nigerian can make.
The primary ingredient and material for egusi soup are egusi melon seeds obtained from egusi melon pods. These melon pods look like watermelon pods but are somewhat smaller. Egusi is cultivated in every region of Nigeria, and it is harvested three months after cultivation. After the harvest, the melon pods are broken to collect the egusi seeds. Then, the egusi seeds are washed and dried for storage and eating.
Due to the popularity of egusi soup in Nigeria, there are different ways the soup can be prepared. These ways are the different recipes of cooking egusi created by Nigerians to suit their different preferences and regions in the country. Therefore, there are different recipes you can try when making this great soup, from the traditional to the modern-influenced ones.
Here are 5 Egusi Soup recipes you should try this year;
1. Egusi and Ugu (Fluted Pumpkin) Leaves
The most common egusi recipe in Nigeria is the egusi and ugu combination. This is a situation when egusi soup is prepared with ugu vegetables. In this case, ugu gives the soup its distinct taste and flavour. For this recipe, you will need other ingredients aside from ground egusi seeds and ugu like stockfish, dry fish, beef, palm oil, seasoning, pepper, crayfish, and salt.
What’s the process of cooking this soup? How do you cook egusi and ugu vegetables soup?
The first step is to get your ingredients ready. When you get the ingredients ready, you start by boiling a kettle of water. If the water is boiled, you use it in soaking and washing your stockfish and dry fish. Then, you wash and boil the beef in a pot for a few minutes to make it soft. While boiling the meat, you can blend your pepper and crayfish. You can also wash and cut your ugu.
After the meat gets soft, you remove the pot from the fire. You use your kitchen spoon to get the meat from the pot into a plate and put back the pot of meat water on the fire. You add a small amount of water to the pot.
Next, you begin to pour the right amount of palm oil into the pot. You cover the pot and let it boil. When it boils, you add your ground egusi by sprinkling it into the pot while steering the water. You also cover the pot to boil for about five minutes when you are done.
In the next five minutes, you check the pot, and if the egusi is too thick, you add a little more hot water. Next, you add other ingredients in the right quantities, like the stockfish, dryfish, crayfish, pepper, seasoning, and salt. After adding these ingredients, let it cook for another five minutes.
The last ingredients you will add are the meat and ugu vegetables. After adding these, you check for a good taste by checking the seasoning and pepper to know if the soup tastes nice. If the soup doesn’t taste nice, you can add more seasoning and pepper to get your desired taste.
Finally, can get your soup down for consumption after three more minutes.
2. Egusi and Bitter Leaves
This is another egusi recipe in Nigeria. It is common to the Igbo people, who also make bitter-leaf soup. Just like the first recipe written about already, this recipe can be cooked in almost the same way and with the same set of ingredients. The difference is that you substitute ugu with bitter leaves. The other difference is that you need to wash the bitter leaves properly to reduce their bitterness before you start cooking.
The bitter leaves are very bitter and they can damage the taste of your soup, so the best way to help you make an awesome soup is to wash the leaves repeatedly and properly to reduce the bitterness. Alternatively, you can buy the washed ones from the market, boil them for fifteen minutes, and sieve out the water. When the bitter leaves are properly washed, you are sure to have an egusi soup that tastes nice with a good distinct bitter-leaf taste.
3. Egusi and Ogbono
Egusi can also be mixed with ogbono when making it. This is a more modern egusi soup recipe that’s growing popular in all the regions of Nigeria. For this recipe, the egusi has to be ground separately from the ogbono seeds. Then, when making the soup, the ogbono should be put in first after putting in your oil at that initial stage. After putting in the ogbono, you need to allow the water to boil for about seven minutes, then steer the soup in the pot to break the lumps and ensure the ogbono is thick a little bit without lumps.
When the ogbono is good, you then add your egusi and continue with the rest of the cooking. For this recipe, the egusi and ogbono mix well together to give you a fine taste.
4. Egusi and Oha Leaves
@foodblog_africa EGUSI SOUP RECIPE ingredient ~ Goat meat, kpomo, stock fish, kplana fish, seasoning cube,yellow pepper, salt, crayfish ( cook on low heat without water) 3 cups egusi Blended with Okpei ( mix to paste ) Palm oil, onions, Periwinkle, Oha & Uziza leaf…. . . Credit: IG/@pure_dove . . . #fypシ゚viral #egusisoup #trending #viral #egusisouprecipe ♬ Mumu (Sped Up) – DJ Neptune & Joeboy
Egusi and oha is another egusi soup recipe you can try. For this type of soup, you cook it in the same process you cook your egusi and ugu soup. However, you have to ensure you wash your oha leaves properly and cut them to the right size for your soup pot. The leaves are the last condiments you will add to the pot.
Egusi and oha combination gives a very sweet taste that’s unforgettable.
5. Lumpy Egusi Soup
There is also the lumpy egusi soup recipe. This recipe is more traditional than modern, as the soup has been cooked this way since the discovery of the soup by Nigerians. Lumpy egusi soup is made with a special form of cooking process to ensure that the egusi is lumpy and big as drumsticks in the pot.
Instead of pouring the ground egusi into the pot like stated earlier, you get a bowl to mix the egusi with a small amount of water. You mix it with water like you are preparing flour for baking but the difference is that you mold the egusi into lumps. When you are done with this, you gently pour it into the pot of boiling water and oil.
This recipe and method of cooking egusi is popular among rural dwellers in Nigeria and it has a great taste.
Conclusion
There are different egusi soup recipes you can try out if you intend to make a good soup. The process of preparing these recipes is almost alike; however, they are also different with their different condiments and unique tastes. The wonderful thing to note about Egusi soup is that it can easily be made, and it can also turn out well with little effort.
