Toasted Egusi Soup

This is one of my Favorite ways to cook my Egusi soup. The depth of flavors from toasting the melon seeds is unmatched and deserves a place on your menu

Ingredients

● Palm oil
● Ground crayfish
● Ground cameroon pepper
● Ground cayenne pepper
● Cooked Meat or any choice of protein
● Beef stock
● Water
● Ugu Leaves aka pumpkin leaves
● Bitter leaves
● Uziza leaves (Optional)
● seasoning cubes
● salt
● onions
● Stock fish
● smoked fish
● 4 -5 medium sized scotch bonnet (depending on your heat threshold)

Instructions

1. Add your cleaned beef to a heated pot. Add some diced onions, small size scotch bonnet, seasoning and salt. Cook for some minutes on low heat to extract the sweet juice from the before adding water.

2. Add water and allow to cook till soft. Sieve meat stock and allow to cool.

3. Place a dry pot on heat, add the melon seeds and toast on low heat till slightly brown, not burnt. Once brown, take out and blend with a bulb of onions, fresh pepper (scotch bonnet) and water.

4. Add palm oil to a heated pan, fry some diced onions, add the blended melon seeds puree, add some crayfish and allow to cook on low heat.

5. Add some steamed stock fish and the cooked beef.

6. Add the stock and take for seasoning.

7. Cleaned and deboned the smoked fish, add it to the soup and allow to cook for a few minutes.

8. Add the washed Bitter leaves first and allow to cook for some minutes before adding the ugu leaves and Uziza leaves. Taste for salt and add if required.

9. Allow to cook for 5 minutes after the leaves go in and then turn off heat.

10. Toasted Egusi soup is ready.

11. Served with food of choice. My favorite would be Boiled white rice or Pounded yam.