Nena’s Egusi Soup with Unripe Plantain Fufu

Name: Nena’s Egusi Soup with Unripe Plantain Fufu
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: ½ red Scotch bonnet chilli (see Scotch bonnet for Newbies); ½ red Scotch bonnet chilli (see Scotch bonnet for Newbies); 1 onion; 300 g/10½ oz whole egusi seeds, or 120 g/4¼ oz ground egusi; 300 g/10½ oz whole egusi seeds, or 120 g/4¼ oz ground egusi; 450 g/1 lb mushrooms; 180 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup red palm oil; 90 g/3¼ oz spinach; 15 g/½ oz fresh uziza leaves (optional), or use extra spinach or 1 teaspoon dried uziza seeds; 15 g/½ oz fresh uziza leaves (optional), or use extra spinach or 1 teaspoon dried uziza seeds; 15 g/½ oz fresh uziza leaves (optional), or use extra spinach or 1 teaspoon dried uziza seeds; 250 ml/9 fl oz/1 cup if the soup is too thick; 3 tablespoons vegetable bouillon powder or 2 vegetable stock cubes (ideally low-salt); 3 tablespoons vegetable bouillon powder or 2 vegetable stock cubes (ideally low-salt); 3 tablespoons vegetable bouillon powder or 2 vegetable stock cubes (ideally low-salt); 1½ teaspoons iru (fermented locust beans) or dark soy sauce; 1½ teaspoons iru (fermented locust beans) or dark soy sauce; 1½ teaspoons iru (fermented locust beans) or dark soy sauce; 500 ml/17 fl oz/2 cups water, plus (optional) extra; 70 g/2½ oz dried soy chunks (also known as TSP chunks); 70 g/2½ oz dried soy chunks (also known as TSP chunks); ½ teaspoon sea salt

Preparation info

Serves:
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
40 min

Appears in

We Cook Plants

By Sarah Bentley

Published 2025

About

“Egusi soup is a stew-like soup made with ground melon (egusi) seeds and is very popular in West Africa, with considerable local variation, both regionally and across countries. This is the Igbo variation, Igbo being my ethnic tribe in Nigeria. Africans call what Europeans know as stew, soup. We love to have it with lots of chunky bits in it that we call ‘obstacles’ in pi

Ingredients

Africa
Nigeria
Gluten-free
Vegan
Soup

Ingredients

Method