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| Ogbono soup with egusi balls. |
HOW TO MAKE EGUSI BALLS IN OGBONO SOUP
This is how we cook Nigerian ogbono soup with egusi balls inside.
Because of the way we enjoyed this soup, the taste and ease of swallowing semovita,
I was forced to call it the mother of all draw soups.
The ground crayfish just made it taste out of this world.
I didn’t add green ugu here, because I wanted it just plain.
I needed to savor the original taste of egusi lumps in draw soups.
We never knew why Asaba people don’t eat ogbono until I saw Myne’s okro with ogbono soup, and the reasons she gave. Now I know why ogbono is not eaten by The Asaba People of Nigeria.
Ingredients for lumpy egusi ogbono soup
- 1 cup Ground ogbono
- 2 cups Ground egusi (melon)
- bush meat (dried) or 1 kg beef
- 2 medium sized Smoked catfish
- 1 cup Ground crayfish
- 1 teaspoon ground fresh pepper or to your taste
- 2 knorr beef seasoning cubes
- A handful Green ugu vegetable (optional)
- 1 small onion to steam the meat
- 1/2 cup palm oil
- salt to taste
- 3 cups water to start with, you can adjust by adding more water as you cook
Steps to cooking ogbono with lumpy egusi
- Wash the bush meat and boil in a pot with some water, a little palm oil, salt, seasoning cubes, chopped onions and ground pepper.Allpow to to boil and then simmer until the dry bush meat begins to get tender.
- The ground melon is again put in a mortar with some salt and a little water enough to make it bring out melon oil when mixed. Now, mix or pound until the oil in the melon begins to seep out and rub on the mortar. When the oil begins to make pounding difficult, cut in little sizes and drop one after the other into the boiling stock.
- Cover and allow the melon to cook well. After the melon boiled for a while, I realized the pot was beginning to dry up, added some more water. Checked for salt and let it cook.
- Now, the melon is cooked! remove from the pot before pouring in the ground ogbono with enough ground crayfish. (the rest of the cooking is done without egusi in the pot, it is then put back, when cooking is almost done, and allowed to boil for a while before the soup is ready).
- If you want ugu vegetables in yours, then add sparingly, add when the cooking is done and stir before turning off the heat.
- Serve with poundo, semovita, semolina, amala, eba or even starch.
SEE MORE OGBONO SOUP RECIPES:
NOTE: Do not leave the egusi lumps in the pot when you add ogbono.
Ogbono is a softener, and will just soften and dissolve all the lumps before cooking is done.
Melon lumps can be kept in the fridge for some minutes to solidify a lil bit (It’s no longer sticky) before adding to the pot.
Eya,this is wonderful!
There was a day sometime ago,I mistakenly poured egusi into my pot of ogbono soup,dat was how I had to throw away dat soup!
.never knew one could mix like this!!
Will try this too.
Btw that yam,palmoil and onions is the most 'realest'(forgive my french) simple food I have eaten in a long time!its naturally sweet.but I complimented mine with goat meat peppersoup…….*still salivating*
TAnx for sharing ur talent.
Been reading a lot of your post and I find them intresting,keep up the good job.pls wen do I add palm oil,and did u mean d egusi is taken out of the bushmeat stock?any other method apart from pounding the egusi?thanks
Thanks Queen!
Thanks. Add the palm oil as soon as you put the pot on the fire, that way the oil cooks well and doesn't smell raw.
Yes, when the lumps are cooked and hardened,take them out of the bush meat stock before adding ogbono, return them later before cooking is done.
Yes, you can actually mix the egusi with a spoon or fingers in a bowl. Just add a little warm water and begin to mix until the egusi oil begins to rub and make the mixing bowl slippery.
Just do me the good of sending some of this your yummy-looking fish, I can do the remaining work of cooking the ogbono soup with egusi lumps.Lol!
Eya yoa are really doing a great job,I thought its only Linda's blog am getting addicted,now I can't do without yours too.,thumb up… OMOTEA
It's bush meat Debby. In big markets they have areas where these are sold. This one here is smoked, porcupine, Lol! I pray they stop selling them o, so that we focus on beef and goat meat * wink*
ogbono with egusi??….hmmm, never tried it but heard that it tastes good.
Weldone Eya.
Nyce one but is it a must we pound the grounded melon can't we mix it with water and still get d same result?love ur blog kip it up
No, it's not a must to pound. If you have the energy to mix with a little water until the egusi oil comes out, then CARRY GO o.
Pls can the egusi and ogbono b cooked in one pot jst like the way we cook egusi soup?
Must it b cooked separately and combined together at d end ?
Wht if u add egusi and allowed cooked properly den add ogbono into it, wht wl d result b?
It would be nice but try not to add the ogbono before egusi ok.
Remember ogbono is a softener and may soften the egusi lumps and prevent binding.