Weekends for me are a time to cook at home. As a student, I don’t usually cook everyday; sometimes, I might decide to eat out or just cook fast foods like spaghetti, noodles or potatoes. During weekends, I do prepare stew, sauce or soup that I can still use for a few days.
One of my favourite soup is the melon soup, commonly known as Egusi Soup, which a common west African dish. It is often mistaken for watermelon or pumpkin seeds, but it is neither of the the two. The scientific name of the melon is Colocynthis citrullus L, but it has different names in different countries.
The fruit of this melon is bitter, so we only use the seeds, which are not bitter. The seeds are dried and ground to make Egusi soup. Egusi soup is very nutritious; it is high in proteins and it is naturally cholesterol free.
This soup isn’t just nutritional; it is also delicious. Although it is prepared differently according to different tribes, but regardless it is a delicious soup to consume.
I was craving this soup, so I decided to make it.
A typical Egusi soup is usually prepared with a lot of proteins; it is cooked with different kinds of meat and fish, which makes the overall soup very high in protein. However, I didn’t prepare it with such proteins. As a student, I was only preparing a small amount and I didn’t have much to spend on it.
Make Melon soup (Egusi soup) with me.
Ingredients
- Grounded melon seed
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Crayfish
- Smoked fish
- Onions
- Fluted pumpkin leaf, commonly known as Ugwu leaf
- Palm oil (red oil)
- A seasoning cube
- Salt (to taste)
- Ginger (optional)
Procedures
Step 1
- The first thing to do is to prepare and clean all your ingredients. Wash the fish, crayfish and leaves. Grate the pepper and onions, then chop one onion.
Step 2
In a pot, heat the palm oil, then add the chopped onions, and stir for few seconds before adding in the crayfish (I prefer to ground the crayfish with the melon seed but I forgot to do that).
After a minute, add the smoked fish. I love to fry my smoked fish or any meat or fish I am adding, I just love the flavor it adds to it. Remove the fish, once it’s fried.
Step 3
- Add the grounded melon seeds mixed with a little salt to the pot. It is important to concentrate here stir continuously for about 3-4 minutes until it starts to give a crumble texture.
Step 4
- Add the grated pepper and allow it to fry. Again, do not forget to stir at intervals. Fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Step 5
- At the point, you can add in your stocked fish or any kind of meat or fish you want to add. Add a seasoning cube, add more salt if necessary and a little ginger powder ( if using). Cook for about 8-10 minutes with no need to stir.
Step 6
- Add the vegetable of your choice, preferably Ugwu leaf, and stir. Allow it to cook for at least 5 minutes.
Step 7
- Serve and Enjoy!
I am enjoying this soup with some fufu, a swallow made from cassava. While Egusi is traditionally eaten with swallows, I also enjoy it with rice.
Please forgive my lighting, it was prepared in the evening
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This is my first time posting here and I hope I am welcomed ❀
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That looks interesting,band flavorful, I'm not familiar to some of the ingredients but I'm sure it make the sauce here more tasty. I'm now curious with it's taste. And I'm curious woth the melon you mention, is it bitter melon perhaps?
Yes. I understand. I am not familiar with other countries ingredients, lol.
I mentioned it. The melon seeds isn't bitter at all, but has a little creamy taste.
It will only be bitter if you decided to add bitter leaf (a kind of leaf that has bitter taste) instead of the Ugwu leaf.