Egusi and Catfish Soup

Catfish soup (Egusi) is quite easy to make. The process resembles that of the usual egusi soup, there is a little twist, however. I want to show you how I made the delicious-looking plate of soup below.

You will buy the catfish while it is still alive, kill and clean it up. The seller would assist you.

Usually, when I want to make catfish soup, it is with ofor or egusi. I believe I have told you how to make catfish soup with ofor and vegetables.

I served this soup with semo. I made egusi soup with catfish in this recipe; you can also make egusi soup with any of the many other Nigerian fishes or meats.
Egusi and catfish soup

Most people can easily figure out how I made this soup, or not. If you do it the wrong way, you will end up scattering the fishes. Most people don’t like it when the fish is scattered.

Serving 6×2

2kg of catfish
4 cups of egusi (melon seeds) (grind)
One cup of ground osu (optional)
300g of bonga fish
A handful of washed Utazi leaves (Gongronema latifolium)
3 cubes of knorr or maggi
200ml of palm oil
Half cup of ground crayfish
Salt and pepper to taste.
One table spoon of ogiri or ground dawadawa (optional)

Preparation time: 20 minutes

bonga fishPreparation for Egusi soup

Step 1

We clean and break those bonga fish, then crayfish and sliced red peppers in the plate above.

Step 2

Buy the hand-pilled melon seeds and ground it yourself. There are several boys in most Nigerian market that offer the service of grinding food ingredients for a little fee.

Step 3

Cut the fish to desired sizes, drop into a bowl and pour almost-boiled water on them. Wash off the slimy-outer skin and transfer into a clean bowl with water.
catfish2

Step 4

Grind your egusi, crayfish and pepper, then set aside. Wash the utazi, you want to remove about 50 percent of its bitterness. Wash and squeeze for about 3 minutes to achieve this.
utazi

Remove the head and center bone of the bonga fish, remove every visible bone and break into tiny bits. Wash and set aside.

How To Cook Catfish Soup

Step 5
Set your cooking pot on heat, add 7 cups of water and allow to boil. Add the bonga fish and allow to cook for up to 10 minutes. The Egusi and catfish soup combination can be made in just about 45 minutes. I think it is one of the easiest Nigerian soup.

Step 6

Add crayfish, two cubes of maggi, pepper and salt to taste. You can add the ogiri or dawadawa at this point. Some people don’t like them. Add 200ml of palm oil and allow to boil for another 5 minutes before adding the ground egusi (melon seed)

Step 7

Add the ground melon seed and stir so it doesn’t coagulate.
soupStep 7

Add the washed-cleaned catfish immediately. Cover and allow to cook for nothing less than 10 minutes. You are allowed to stir carefully occasionally so it doesn’t get burned.
soup

Last Step (Catfish/Egusi Soup)

Step 8

Taste for salt, you can add another cube of maggi or knorr if you like, sprinkle the washed utazi on the top of the soup. Cover and allow to simmer for another 3 minutes and you are done with the making of a delicious pot of egusi-catfish soup.

I would love to read your comment, please use the comment box below. You can also try several other recipes on this blog, there are hundreds of them.

26 Comments

bliss
Reply

I gave this recipe a trial and it came out super delicious.i added beef,ofor, unshelled periwinkle with afang leaf…..simply out of this world!!

December 6, 2018
Vieva
Reply

Yes ooo. U’re the best chy. I’d surely give it a try soonest. Keep up d gud work. Looking out for Fresh Fish Stew.

June 14, 2016
Emamoke
Reply

Is utazi the same as pumkin leave. If not, can I substitute utazi for pumkin?

January 25, 2016
Vera
Reply

Thanks for sharing, i will try it.

January 14, 2016
Faith
Reply

Wow! I’ll definitely try it out. Thanks for the recipe

January 11, 2016
naomi
Reply

tasting good already but wont the catfish scatter in the process of mixing the leave and egunsi? one will b extra careful sha. can u make one of ur weekly recipes a table of nutricious food for kids age 1-5yrs made with common nigerian foods? will appreciate

January 11, 2016
Precious
Reply

Dear Chidi, Happy New Year and I wish you a great and successful year. Thanks for this posting and for all others. But I would like to see the video of the Egunsi Soup with cat fish preparation.

thanks.

January 11, 2016
Delight
Reply

It’s really nice and i’ll try it thou but my Dad doesn’t like catfish on soup

January 11, 2016
sarah omotosho
Reply

Thanks chi,I just love this am going to try it,God bless ut

January 11, 2016
Esi Senam
Reply

Thanks so much. But I don’t know what utazi and bonga fish are. I’m ghanaian.

January 11, 2016
Donsmart
Reply

Actually i feel like eaten the food from here, its quite delicious well presentable, how i wish i can accumulate this one. I must say very big thanks for teaching it, it really a nice one.

January 10, 2016
Maureen inuwa
Reply

short and precise thanks

January 9, 2016
Yawchi
Reply

Really cool, but wont d smell ofd catfish b retained?

January 8, 2016
Chidi Anegbu
Reply

No really, once it is properly washed.

January 10, 2016
AMAKA
Reply

My dear thanks very much for the detail and direction on how to cook Egusi and Catfish Soup. Happy New Year

January 8, 2016
Princess
Reply

Thanks so much… I have learn another new method of cooking egusi soup..

January 8, 2016
Sylvia
Reply

Wonderful Work Ma,I. Can feel the Food Passion in you.I Appreciate U.

January 7, 2016
Queensley
Reply

Thanks Chi… U are one in a million,when it comes to perfect&delicious dishes……My kitchen is now an arena of variety,may God bless ur good work?

January 7, 2016
Eve
Reply

Won’t the fish be tasteless without first parboiling with salt and pepper,considering that cat fish can be so nauseated without proper seasoning.

January 7, 2016
mojisola
Reply

I will definitely try it,thanks.

January 7, 2016
Patricia
Reply

Wow, it looks great, I’ll try it n tnx for d tip on how to go abt wit d catfish. Thanks again n happy new year

January 7, 2016
Sonia
Reply

Tnks Chidi, don’t love catfish at all, d raring puts me off. Will def try dis another fresh water fish. Tried ur Egusi soup recipe with beef, came out really nice. Wished u had a taste. Lol

January 7, 2016
Jane
Reply

Good morning Chidi,

Thanks for this very recipe. I am really going to try it out today. Will get you a feed back asap. God bless you real good and have a wonderful year ahead as God continue to increase you in wisdom IJN-Amen

January 7, 2016
Toby
Reply

I love catfish very much and have tried the other soup recipe. This one looks really delicious and I am definitely going to give it a whirl soon. Can I just slice the utazi leaves instead of washing them? thanks.

January 6, 2016
chisom
Reply

Happy new year Chidi, Thanks for the recipe. My husband loves catfish so much.

January 6, 2016
Ifeyinwa
Reply

Thanks for the well detailed recipe, you have done so much for me and women in general. happy new year and thanks once again for the catfish soup.

January 6, 2016

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