Ghanaian Vegan Melon Seed Soup (Wrewre)

This recipe is a super flavourful vegan Ghanaian-style melon seed soup also known as wrewre soup. Wrewre soup is an extra special soup that is made for the holiday season or special occasions.

What is Wrewre?

The ancestor of the present-day watermelon was indigenous to Africa. However, melons in Africa come in different shapes and sizes. These melons are grown primarily for their seeds, which are important in popular dishes across the region. Agushie or Egusi is what most people know — flat, round white melon seeds. Melon seeds, like many seeds, offer a lot of nutrients and benefits, including plant-based protein and fatty acids. I include them regularly in my diet for these reasons. There is no need to keep reaching out for the pumpkin, chia or flax seeds when I can eat an ingredient I grew up with.

However, for this soup, we are using a specific type of melon seeds that are distinct from agushie. They are smaller, thinner and look like sunflower seeds. These melon seeds are used specifically for this soup and require some more attention and care to pull it off. But the final product is an amazing, incredibly fragrant soup.

What you will need

Wrewre: I get these at an African store. It is technically a seed so if you are allergic to nuts you should be okay, but please be careful if you are allergic to seeds. Unfortunately, this is such a unique ingredient that I cannot provide a perfect substitute. While people might refer to it as musk melon seeds, these are not the same seeds from the canteloupe. The melon is actually quite small and grown mainly for its seeds.

Mushrooms: I use a mix of dried shiitake, tea tree and wood ear mushrooms. I also use fresh mushrooms because I like the different textures. I use a mix of oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms

Aromatics: No Ghanaian soup is complete without tomato, onion, ginger and scotch bonnet pepper. These serve as the base for the soup

Seasoning: the seasoning for the soup is very basic. All I used was better than bouillon and a little curry powder. I also recommend aidan fruit and grains of selim for a more traditional flavour profile.

Print Recipe

Wrewre Soup (Melon Seed Soup)

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Ghanaian

Keyword: african ingredients

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups wrewre seeds
• 2 whole tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 thumb size of ginger
• 1-2 scotch bonnet peppers
• 2 large handful of dried mushrooms preferably oyster or shiitake
• 1 tablespoon of better than bouillon paste or any bouillon cube of choice or even miso
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
• 1 aidan fruit/prɛkɛsɛ (optional)
• 5 grains of selim hwentia (optional)
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms preferably oyster or shiitake
• 1 block of firm tofu cut into cubes

Instructions

• In a non-stick pot, roast the wrewre seeds till they start popping. You want to keep a close eye and continuously stir because you can easily burn it. This should take about 10 minutes.
• Once you start to hear popping, take the seeds of the heat and transfer them to a blender
• Blend the seeds with 4 cups of water and strain the milk back into the pot. Blend the leftover solid chaff with 3 cups of water and repeat the straining process.
• Bring the milk to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes. We cook the milk beforehand so that it does not coagulate.
• After the 20 minutes have passed, add in the dried mushrooms, tomato, onion, and scotch bonnet pepper
• Let everything boil till the skins of the tomatoes start to peel off
• Remove the tomato, onion, scotch bonnet pepper and blend with the ginger and 3 cups of water.
• Strain the blended mixture into the pot and let everything come to a boil. You can keep the leftover chaff and use it for sauces
• After 10 minutes of boiling, add the bouillon cube, curry powder (very optional), prekese and grains of selim (both optional)
• Let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes then add the fresh mushrooms. The soup will continue to boil for another 20-25 minutes.
• When you start to see oil pooling at the top and the foam reduced, then the soup is ready.
• Serve with rice balls or fufu.