Egusi Soup with Silky Pounded Yam

⏱ 90 min · Serves 6

A rich, nutty melon-seed stew simmered with beef, smoked fish and spinach in glossy red palm oil — served with soft, stretchy pounded yam for scooping. Proper Nigerian comfort food, made for a table full of people.

Per serving: 845 kcal · 48.0g protein · 63.0g carbs · 45.0g fat

Ingredients

• 300g ground egusi (melon seeds)
• 700g beef chuck, cut into chunks
• 300g goat meat or extra beef (optional)
• 1 large smoked mackerel or 150g smoked fish, flaked and bones removed
• 120ml red palm oil
• 1 large onion, half roughly chopped, half blended
• 4 medium tomatoes, blended (optional, for colour)
• 3 scotch bonnet peppers, blended (adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp ground crayfish
• 2 stock cubes (Maggi or knorr)
• 1 tsp ground iru (locust beans) or 1 tbsp whole iru
• 300g fresh spinach or frozen chopped spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1.2 litres water or beef stock
• 1.2kg white yam, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks

Method

1. Season the beef (and goat, if using) with the chopped onion, 1 stock cube and 1 tsp salt. Add 500ml water and simmer, covered, for 35–40 minutes until tender. Reserve the stock.
2. Meanwhile, mix the ground egusi with about 150ml water to make a thick, moulding paste. Set aside.
3. Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat for 2 minutes (don't let it smoke). Add the blended onion, tomatoes and scotch bonnet and fry for 8–10 minutes until the raw smell goes and the oil floats.
4. Drop in teaspoon-sized lumps of the egusi paste. Let them fry gently for 5 minutes without stirring so they set, then stir once and fry another 5 minutes until fragrant and slightly grainy.
5. Pour in the reserved beef stock plus enough water to reach a loose stew consistency. Add the crayfish, iru, remaining stock cube and the cooked meat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, until the oil rises to the top and the egusi thickens.
6. Add the flaked smoked fish and simmer 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and heat.
7. Stir in the spinach, cook 3–4 minutes only so it stays green, then turn off the heat and cover.
8. For the pounded yam: boil the yam chunks in salted water for 20–25 minutes until a knife slides through easily. Drain, reserving a little cooking water.
9. Pound the hot yam in a mortar (or blitz in a food processor in batches) until completely smooth and elastic, adding splashes of the reserved water as needed. Shape into smooth balls with wet hands.
10. Serve the pounded yam alongside generous bowls of egusi, and eat with your fingers — pinch, dip, scoop.