Egusi Soup – Moulded Method (Akpuruakpu).
To make egusi soup, blend egusi seeds with onions, peppers, and crayfish. Shape the mixture into small balls or patties and cook them in broth. This creates a unique and tasty texture.
Equipment
- 1 large ooking pot
- 1 Blending Machine
- Bowels
- Cooking spoons
- Grinding stone in absense of blender.
Ingredients
- 350 g Egusi (melon) seed
- 50 g Osu a white, congealed ingredient used for preparing soup when grinded.
- 2.5 cooking spoon of palm oil
- Asorted meat , cow meat together with cow tripe.
- Stockfish
- dry fish catfish preferable
- 1 ogiri okpei
- 1-3 stock cube any of your choice
- pepper habanero (ose oyibo) or any pepper around but fresh.
- handful crayfish
- dry pepper if available
- salt to taste
Instructions
PREPARATION BEFORE COOKING
- Grind the egusi and osu using a grinding stone or blend using a blender.
- Pour the ground egusi into a clean dry bowl and set aside about 20%
- Mold the egusi dough into flat discs, each as big as a coin. Then, boil some water and add the molded egusi to the pot of boiling water. Cook for ten minutes over medium heat.
- The traditional recipe for egusi soup in eastern Nigeria mandates the use of bitter leaf, which imparts a unique and delicious flavor to the dish. To prepare this delectable soup, start by carefully washing and cutting your preferred vegetables. Other soft vegetables like spinach, uziza, and pumpkin leaf can be used.
PREPARING THE SOUP
- Cook the stockfish and meat together with some stock cubes (seasoning cubes) until they become tender. Set aside some of the stock in a separate bowl. Soaking the stockfish beforehand is important as it helps to clean it thoroughly. However, soaking alone does not make it soft enough for our recipe.
- Add the deboned dry fish, habanero pepper, and the remaining crayfish and ogiri okpei blend. Bring to a boil.
- After bringing the water to a boil, remove the fish and set it aside to prevent it from breaking into pieces. This step should also be followed when using fresh fish.
- To make the egusi soup, add the ground egusi that was left out to the stock. Stir the mixture and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until you see some clear egusi oil come to the surface. Be sure to stir the soup frequently to prevent it from burning. As needed, add the water you used in boiling the molded egusi.
- After you spot clear oil at the top, add palm oil and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Please add the boiled moulded egusi (akpuruakpu egusi), bitter leaf, and the fish (fresh or dry) that we removed earlier. If you are using soft vegetables, add them to the pot two minutes before you off the heat.
- Add salt to your taste, cover and once it boils again, it is done!
- Empty the soup into a cool bowl to retain the freshness of the vegetables.
Notes
You can serve Egusi soup with any swallow, but it's best with pounded yam. Some enjoy it alone or with boiled rice. Click here to order.