Egusi Soup

Ingredients

• 250g egusi (ground melon seeds)
• 600g stewing beef, cut into 3cm chunks
• 150g smoked fish, flaked, or 100g stockfish, soaked
• 120ml red palm oil
• 2 onions
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 2 red bell peppers, deseeded
• 2 scotch bonnet chillies
• 2 tbsp ground crayfish
• 2 stock cubes
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 200g bitter leaf or spinach, washed and chopped
• 1 litre water
• 2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Before you cook

• Blend the tomatoes, bell peppers, scotch bonnets and one onion to a coarse puree.
• Chop the second onion finely.
• Mix the ground egusi with about 150ml cold water in a bowl to make a thick paste that holds its shape on a spoon, then set it aside.
• Flake the smoked fish and pick out the bones carefully.
• Wash the bitter leaf in several changes of water, squeezing hard each time, to draw out the bitterness. If using spinach, simply chop it.

Steps

1. Put the beef in a pot with the chopped onion, one crumbled stock cube, the thyme, 1 tsp salt and 500ml of the water.
2. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 40 minutes until the beef is tender. Keep the cooking liquid.
3. Heat the palm oil in a wide heavy pot over medium heat for 2 minutes until it loosens and turns bright orange. Do not let it smoke.
4. Pour in the blended pepper mixture, stand back from the spitting, and fry for 15 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and the oil separates at the edges.
5. Drop tablespoon-sized lumps of the egusi paste into the sauce, spacing them out. Do not stir yet.
6. Let the lumps fry undisturbed for 10 minutes so they set into firm curds.
7. Pour in the beef along with its cooking liquid and the rest of the water.
8. Stir gently once, breaking the egusi lumps only into large pieces, and bring to a simmer.
9. Add the flaked smoked fish, the ground crayfish, the second stock cube and the black pepper.
10. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the egusi has swollen and the soup is thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail. A film of orange oil should sit on the surface.
11. Stir in the bitter leaf or spinach and cook for 5 minutes more.
12. Taste and adjust the salt and heat, then take the pot off the heat.
13. Serve very hot in bowls with pounded yam, eba or fufu on the side.