African · Lunch · Dinner
Egusi Soup
Ọbẹ̀ Ẹ̀gúsí
A rich, nutty Nigerian soup of ground melon seeds simmered with tender beef, smoky fish and plenty of spinach. This version uses less palm oil and lean beef for the same deep, savoury flavour.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total
- 95 min
- Serves
- 6
Calories come from: Carbs 11% · Fat 57% · Protein 32%
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Ingredients
For 6 servings- 500 glean beef stew meat, cut into 3 cm cubes
- 150 gsmoked mackerel, skin and bones removed, flaked
- 1 1/2 cups200 gground egusi (melon seeds)
- 2 tbsp27 gred palm oil
- 1 large150 gonion
- 2 cloves6 ggarlic
- 1 large150 gred bell pepper
- 110 gscotch bonnet pepper
- 2 tbsp15 gground dried crayfish
- 12 cups loosely packed400 gfresh spinach, chopped
- 1 tsp6 gsalt
- 4 cups1,000 gwater
Steps
- 1
Chop half the onion and mince the garlic.
- 2
Put the beef in a large pot with the chopped onion, garlic, half the salt and 750 ml of the water.
- 3
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 45 minutes until the beef is tender.
- 4
Meanwhile, roughly chop the remaining onion, the red bell pepper and the scotch bonnet, then blend them to a coarse purée.
- 5
In a bowl, mix the ground egusi with the remaining 250 ml water to form a thick paste.
- 6
Lift the beef out of the pot and pour the stock into a jug; keep both aside.
- 7
Heat the palm oil in the same pot over medium heat and fry the pepper purée for 5 minutes, stirring, until it thickens.
- 8
Drop the egusi paste into the pot in small spoonfuls and cook for 10 minutes without stirring so the lumps set.
- 9
Stir gently, then add the reserved stock, beef, flaked mackerel and crayfish.
- 10
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the soup thickens and the beef is piping hot.
- 11
Stir in the spinach and cook for 5 minutes until wilted.
- 12
Taste, add the remaining salt if needed, and serve hot.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- For a pescatarian version, replace the beef with chunks of firm white fish such as cod, adding them with the mackerel so they don't break up.
- Use frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry, instead of fresh to make shopping and prep easier.
- Swap the scotch bonnet for half a milder chilli, or leave it out, for a gentler heat.
- If you can't find red palm oil, use the same amount of vegetable or groundnut oil, though the colour and flavour will be milder.
Storage
Cool and refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in a covered container and eat within 3 to 4 days, reheating until steaming hot with a splash of water. The soup can be frozen for up to 2 to 3 months, though the spinach softens further on thawing.
Make ahead
Simmer the beef and blend the pepper purée up to 2 days ahead and keep them refrigerated separately, then finish the soup on the day. The whole soup also reheats well, so you can cook it a day in advance.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: FishCrustaceans
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (436 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 427 kcal | 98 kcal |
| Protein | 35.5 g | 8.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 11.8 g | 2.7 g |
| of which sugars | 2.5 g | 0.6 g |
| Fiber | 2.5 g | 0.6 g |
| Fat | 28 g | 6.4 g |
| of which saturated | 7.7 g | 1.8 g |
| Sodium | 554 mg | 127 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
