Egusi Soup

Ingredients

Meat and base

• 500 g beef shin (or goat shoulder, cut into 3 cm chunks)
• 1 onion (large, halved; one half left whole, the other chopped finely)
• 1 stock cube (Maggi or chicken)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 700 ml water

Pepper paste

• 1 onion (large, the chopped half, plus another if you like it onion-forward)
• 2 red bell peppers (deseeded, rough chunks)
• 1-2 Scotch bonnet chillies (deseeded for less heat - leave seeds if you can take it)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 cm fresh ginger

Egusi paste

• 200 g ground egusi seeds (white melon seeds; sold ground at African shops, OR whole egusi seeds ground to a powder in a spice grinder)
• 100 ml warm water

To finish

• 150 ml red palm oil (proper West African palm oil - the deep red kind, not refined "palm oil" which is yellow)
• 150 g smoked fish (smoked mackerel, smoked catfish or smoked herring, bones removed, flaked)
• 2 tablespoons ground crayfish (sold dried at African shops)
• 1 tablespoon iru (or dawadawa, fermented locust beans, optional but traditional)
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 200 g leafy greens - bitter leaf (cleaned, repeatedly washed to debitter) OR spinach OR ugu (fluted pumpkin leaves)

To serve

• Fufu, pounded yam, eba (cassava semolina) or rice

Method

Stage 1 - Parboil the meat

1. Place the beef or goat in a pot with the whole half-onion, stock cube, salt and water.
2. Bring to a boil; skim.
3. Reduce to a simmer; cover; cook 45 minutes until tender.
4. Strain - reserve the meat and the stock separately.

Stage 2 - Pepper paste

1. In a blender, blitz the chopped onion, red peppers, Scotch bonnets, garlic and ginger to a smooth paste. Don't add water - the peppers will release enough.

Stage 3 - Egusi paste

1. In a bowl, combine the ground egusi with the 100 ml warm water and stir to a thick paste - the texture of peanut butter. Set aside.

Stage 4 - Hot palm oil and pepper

1. Heat the palm oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke (the colour shifts from deep red to a slightly more orange-red).
2. Reduce heat to medium; carefully add the pepper paste - it will spit. Stand back.
3. Fry 5-7 minutes, stirring, until the paste has reduced and the oil starts to rise to the surface (a sign the moisture has cooked off).

Stage 5 - Egusi

1. Drop spoonfuls of the egusi paste into the pot, spaced out, so it sits in clumps rather than dissolving in.
2. Don't stir for 3 minutes - let the bottom set.
3. Then gently turn and break up the clumps. Fry 10 minutes - the egusi will look slightly granular, like couscous, and the oil will be visible at the edges.

Stage 6 - Stock and meat

1. Pour in 400-500 ml of the reserved meat stock - enough to bring the mixture to a thick stew consistency.
2. Add the cooked meat.
3. Simmer 10 minutes.

Stage 7 - Smoked fish and seasoning

1. Add the flaked smoked fish, ground crayfish and locust beans (if using).
2. Stir; simmer 10 minutes.
3. Taste; adjust salt.

Stage 8 - Greens

1. Add the leafy greens.
2. Cook 3-5 minutes until just wilted (don't overcook - the greens should be vibrant).

Stage 9 - Serve

1. Spoon onto plates alongside a mound of fufu, pounded yam, eba or rice.
2. Eat with the right hand: pinch off a piece of fufu, dip in the egusi, mouth.