Egusi soup with vegetable oil and fresh tomatoes goes all round for rice and swallows.
My love for egusi soup with tomatoes started right from the first time that I ordered egusi soup when we ate out. I
remember the meat served in the soup was taken from tomato stew. It tasted so good I had to ask the tomatoes stew be mixed with my egusi soup.
That continued. Everytime I ate egusi soup I never forgot to ask that some stew be poured on the egusi soup.
One day I just told myself that this egusi with tomato stew that I so much enjoy at Mama Iyabo’s that I will try making it myself.
Watch me cook egusi soup with tomatoes in my kitchen. See what I do to create large egusi lumps.
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Hence the first egusi soup with tomato taste post shared here on the blog.
Later I kept trying different versions of egusi soups with different tomato forms. I cooked egusi soup with tin tomato, it was very tasty. We made stewie egusi soup, was delicious. Egusi stew for rice and rescue egusi stew were all delicious.
When I brought out ingredients to cook this vegetable oil egusi soup. I told myself that I will not mix palm oil with vegetable oil. Wanted to see if egusi soup can just be cooked with all Nigerian tomato stew ingredients. It worked!
The stock used in cooking this soup was made with all stew ingredients including thyme and oregano. The reason I added a little dried oregano is because I love the taste of oregano in goat meats. Oregano and dried thyme leaves just have a way of bringing out the goat flavour.
We used goat meat to cook this soup and next time I’ll use beef and even bush meat if possible. The goat meat was part boiled with tomato stew ingredients but no curry at all.
The egusi balls (Lumps) in this soup were made by adding ground egusi and some warm water in a mortar, mixing very well into an oily paste kind of before cutting and dropping the egusi lumps into the pot of soup.
WHY VEGETABLE OIL?
Times are changing and so am I. Never would I have thought that a time would come in my life when vegetable oil will be added to Nigerian soups. Anyway, I think the reason this soya oil came in here is because I used it to fry the blended tomatoes and peppers. Not like I added it directly to the soup. No. Not yet at least. Can’t try that.
HOW TO COOK EGUSI SOUP WITH VEGETABLE OIL AND FRESH TOMATOES
If you can make Nigerian tomato stews, then you can make this egusi soup with vegetable oil and fresh tomatoes. You don’t even have to let the blended tomato boil and dry up. While tomato boils in oil, soup cooking can start straight away. This is a a very large pot of soup to be frozen. Cannot come and be cooking soup every week. Serves upto 20 adults.
INGREDIENTS FOR VEGETABLE OIL EGUSI SOUP
2 kg goat meat
5 cups egusi seeds
1 small sized onion to parboil the meat
Seasoning cubes
Salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup ground crayfish
2 large sized dried catfish
Fresh tomatoes
Vegetable oil for stew (I use soya oil)
Scotch bonnet peppers blended together with the fresh tomatoes and 1 large onion
A handful green leafy vegetables
SOUP COOKING STEPS
- Wash and boil meat with onion, salt, thyme, oregano and seasoning cube till tender. if pot begins to dry up, add water and check for salt. Drain out the stock and set aside.
- Blend tomatoes, onion and peppers and fry like you making Nigerian tomato stew
- While tomato boils, add seasoning cubes and check for taste.
- We add the stock when satisfied with tomato taste. Let it boil.
- Then, I add the egusi by dropping tiny lumps (Balls) in the boiling pot, add the crayfish, deboned washed fish too. Do not stir immediately. If you want egusi balls, let the egusi cook a bit before gently stirring.
- Let the soup cook until your egusi balls taste cooked. Chew some egusi to be sure they cooked through before adding the already tender meat.
- Stir and check for taste. Satisfied? Then sprinkle in the green vegetables, stir, check for taste and turn off the heat.
- Serve with any swallow, any fufu of choice. You can also serve with boiled rice and enjoy.