The Diary Game: Cooking My Favorite Local Soup From Scratch ||18-08-2026||

From the pictures, you can already tell what I made: *Egusi Soup with Bitterleaf*. It turned out rich, thick, and so flavorful. Let me take you through the process.

Step 1: Building the Base:
I started with palm oil. Once it was hot, I added my blended pepper and onions. That’s what gives the soup that deep red color and peppery heat. I kept stirring until you could see the oil rising to the top, that’s how you know the base is set.

Step 2: Protein Time: Next I added ponmo that I had boiled earlier till it was soft. You can spot it going into the pot with my orange spatula. Ponmo adds that nice chewy texture. Some people would throw in stockfish, dry fish or beef, but for me today, ponmo plus egusi was perfect.

Step 3: The Egusi Part: Now this is where the magic happens. I mixed ground egusi with water to form small lumps and dropped them into the boiling soup. If you check the first picture, you’ll see those egusi balls floating in the red broth. As it simmers, the egusi absorbs all the flavors and makes the soup thick and nutty. I also made another pot with vegetables mixed in, that’s the yellow egusi with greens you see being stirred.

Step 4: Adding Bitterleaf: Washing bitterleaf is serious work, You rinse and squeeze it over and over to reduce the bitterness, but you still want to keep a little of it because that’s what gives the soup balance. I added fresh handfuls of bitterleaf into the pot. As soon as it touched the hot soup, steam filled the kitchen and the smell was just amazing. I only let it cook for a few minutes so the leaves stayed green and fresh.

^{Soup is ready}

^{Soup is ready}

For me, this isn’t just food. It’s culture. It’s comfort. It’s that taste that reminds you who you are.