Egusi Soup

Blend the red bell pepper, habanero, Fresno pepper and one whole onion to a smooth purée. Set it aside.

💡 The habanero carries almost all the heat. Take out its seeds and white ribs for a milder pot, or leave one of the three peppers out entirely.

Blend the egusi with half of the second onion and the crayfish. It should look like damp, pale sand — thick, not pourable. Set aside.

Melt the palm oil in a wide pan over medium heat until it is fluid and just shimmering — about 2 minutes. Do not let it smoke.

💡 Overheated palm oil bleaches from red to clear and turns acrid — and the colour never comes back. She specifically warns against bleaching it. Pull the pan off the heat the moment you see wisps of smoke.

Dice the remaining half onion and add it with half of the locust beans. Cook 3 minutes over medium heat, until the onion turns soft and the locust beans smell sharply savoury.

Pour in the blended pepper mixture. Cook about 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring every 5 minutes, until the watery liquid has cooked off and the sauce darkens and thickens.

💡 This is the step beginners cut short. Raw blended pepper tastes thin and slightly grassy; the fry is what turns it into a base. Wait for the oil to separate and float at the edges — that is your signal.

Stir in the remaining locust beans, the beef stock and salt to taste. Cover and let it cook 5 minutes.

Spoon the blended egusi into the sauce in lumps — and now do not stir. Cover and leave it over medium-low heat for 20–30 minutes.

💡 This hands-off stretch is the whole technique. Stirring now disperses the egusi into a gritty slurry; leaving it alone lets it set into soft compact curds — the texture the dish is loved for.

Keep an eye on it so the bottom does not catch, but resist the spoon. When the egusi has set into a soft, compact mass, gently stir it through and loosen with a little more stock if it looks tight.

💡 If you smell toast rather than savoury richness, the heat is too high — slide the pan to a smaller burner rather than stirring to rescue it.

Add the beef and fish. Cook another 5 minutes, until everything is heated through and coated in the sauce.

Stir in the chopped spinach and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it collapses into the stew and turns deep green.

💡 680 g of spinach looks absurd going in and shrinks to almost nothing. Add it in two or three handfuls if it will not fit.

Taste and adjust the salt. Serve hot, with pounded yam, eba or rice for scooping.