Egusi Soup with Beef Chuck & Spinach

Ingredients

• 1 lb Beef Chuck, cut in large chunks
• 1 cup ground egusi (melon seeds)
• 5 cups Spinach, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 onion, half grated and half sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, blended smooth
• 1 habanero, blended with the peppers
• ⅓ cup red palm oil or neutral oil
• 2 tsp ground crayfish or 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 bouillon cube
• 3 cups stock or water
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Season the Beef Chuck with salt, the grated onion, and the bouillon cube. Cover with stock and simmer until tender — 20 minutes for poultry, closer to 50 for beef chuck. Keep the broth; it is the backbone of the soup.
2. Stir the ground egusi with a few tablespoons of water into a stiff paste that holds its shape on the spoon. Don't loosen it — the lumps are the point.
3. Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium until it thins and loses its raw smell, about 2 minutes. Add the sliced onion and blended peppers and fry, stirring, until the raw edge cooks off and the oil floats to the surface, 10–12 minutes.
4. Drop the egusi paste in walnut-sized lumps over the sauce. Do not stir for 5 full minutes — let them set into soft curds — then fold gently and add the reserved broth, crayfish, and the cooked Beef Chuck.
5. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes until the soup is thick enough to mound on a spoon and the oil pools amber at the edges. Fold in the Spinach and cook just 3 minutes so it stays green. Taste for salt and serve with pounded yam or rice.