Egusi – Ground Melon Seed for Nigerian Egusi Soup

Egusi

Ground melon seed, already milled and ready for the pot. The most cooked soup in Nigeria, and the one most people abroad attempt first.

Grinding egusi at home means a blender, a lot of noise and a texture that is never quite even. This is done for you.

The two ways to cook it

Every argument about egusi comes down to this.

• The lumpy method. Mix the egusi with a little water into a thick paste, then drop spoonfuls into hot palm oil and stock. Leave them alone. They set into soft lumps. This is the Igbo house style and it is what most people mean when they say their mother's egusi.
• The fried method. Fry the egusi in palm oil first until it darkens and smells nutty, then add stock and stir it smooth. Richer, deeper, and the Yoruba approach more often.

How to cook it, the lumpy way

1. Heat palm oil, add blended pepper and onion, let it fry down.
2. Add stock and your meat, stockfish and dried fish.
3. Mix egusi with a little water into a stiff paste. Drop it in as lumps.
4. Do not stir for ten minutes. This is the whole trick. Stirring too early turns your lumps into sludge.
5. Season, add ugu or bitterleaf, simmer briefly and take it off.

Product details

• Also known as: egusi, agushi, ground melon seed
• Form: Ground
• Sizes: 8.25oz, 2.30lb half bucket, 5.60lb full bucket
• Ingredients: 100% melon seed. Nothing added.
• Storage: Egusi is oily and will go rancid at room temperature. Keep it in the freezer.

Shipped from Nexxtmart to anywhere in the United States.