There's a restaurant called Ike's Cafe in my area. I love their egusi soup and I've been trying to replicate it. I just don't know what I'm missing. Here's what I have so far...

• small white onions
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6 sweet peppers
• 3 small tomatoes
• 1 red habanero
• 1 yellow habanero
• Knorr seasoning cubes (I've substituted this for "Better Bouillon" brand of seasoning)
• red palm oil
• ground crayfish
• smoked catfish (I've substituted this for smoked herring b/c the catfish from my local African grocer is too dry and hard)
• Uziza seeds (my Nigerian friend said he doesn't use uziza seeds and had never heard of the spice)
• Some kind of meat (chicken, goat, oxtail)

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Things I've noticed about Ike's Cafe egusi.

- There is a prominent flavor of scotch bonnet SAUCE

UPDATE, 1/17/22: The egusi soup from Ike's cafe is not Nigerian... it's Ghanian. In fact, Ike's is a Ghanian restaurant! :) But I'm still having trouble replicating their soup. It's definitely a little sweet and has a tomato base... ALSO, they cook their stew with "lumpy egusi".