Jazz Up Your Egusi Soup with Egusi Uziza Balls

Egusi soup is Nigeria’s most common soup, and can enjoyed in different ways. Adding Uziza vegetable leaf to Egusi soup, will bring a unique kind of flavour. Most people cook Egusi with waterleaf or bitter leaf, and that’s absolutely fine, but why not make your meals unique and special?

Add a zing to your Egusi soup simply by making Egusi balls infused with finely sliced Uziza leaf. You might ask: Why not just sprinkle on the Uziza leaf instead of taking a complicated way of making Uziza balls? The answer is simple – family and friends appreciate dishes more when we put in that extra something.

The way the food looks on the plate is what tempts people to taste it. Imagine your family seeing those steaming Uziza balls on their Egusi soup dish for the first time. That’s a good reason to try – plus it’s delicious!

To make the Uziza balls:

1. Add melon, onion, water and fresh pepper in a blender. Blend until it forms a thick paste.
2. Warm palm oil and add little bits of the melon paste into the pot. Don’t stir it together – cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add a small seasoning cube and salt to taste. Mix until the oil starts to appear in the Egusi.
4. Wash and thinly slice four to  Uziza leaves. Add to the Egusi and mix well.
5. Mold the Egusi into small balls and drop in the boiling meat stock to cook. Try to push the meat in the pot to one side so it’s easy to drop the balls in the stock.
6. After about 5-10 minutes, gradually remove the balls and set them aside.
7. Once you are done cooking your normal Egusi soup, add the Uziza ball to the soup.

Enjoy!