Egusi sauce or egusi soup, traditionally egusi or obe egusi in
Yoruba, is a culinary sauce prepared with
egusi seeds as a primary ingredient.
Egusi seeds are the
fat
In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
The term often refers specif ...
- and
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
-rich
seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s of certain
cucurbitaceous (squash, melon, gourd) plants. Egusi sauce is common and prevalent across
Central Africa
Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...
as mbíka, and may be served atop rice, cooked vegetables, or grilled meat, such as goat, chicken, beef, or fish.
It may also be served atop
fufu, omelettes,
amala, and
eba,
among other foods. Egusi soup is also consumed in West Africa, sometimes with chicken.
Preparation
Egusi sauce is prepared by grinding egusi seeds, from which a paste is created.
There are two methods of preparing egusi soup:
1. Frying method: Egusi paste is fried in palm oil before adding other ingredients.
2. Boiling method: Small lumps of egusi paste are added to boiling water and broken into pieces after cooking for 10 minutes.
Soup ingredients may include tomato, onion, chili pepper, and cooking oil, such as
palm oil.
Sometimes pumpkin seeds are substituted in place of egusi seeds.
Similar dishes
Egusi soup is a kind of
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
thickened with the ground seeds and popular in
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, with considerable local variation. Besides the seeds, water, and oil, egusi soup typically contains
leaf vegetables and other vegetables,
seasonings, and
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
.
See also
*
List of soups
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egusi soup
African soups