Rice with Seafood and Dried Fish
thiebou-khetiakh.pngThere are a few ingredients here that are specific to Senegal/West Africa. The cornille beans are a type of black-eyed bean that only take 10 minutes to cook if rehydrated over night. For the slightly more unusual (from a non-Senegalese perspective) ingredients, here are their meanings: <em>guedji beurre</em> is a fermented and dried fish; kethiakh are smoked sardines; yokhoss are smoked oysters; touffa are dried sea snails; pagnes are dried clams. Nététou (known as locust beans in English) are the oil seeds of <em>Ricinodendron heudelotii</em> used as a spice. Beuguedj is a sauce or paste made primarily from bissap (hibiscus) leaves, known as ‘sorrel’. See the next recipe for how to make this. Note that the dried and smoked dried fish, even when broken into pieces and thoroughly washed remain very salty, so be careful when seasoning this dish.
Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 100 minutes/Serves: 6
Ingredients:
50g of guedji beurre (dried ombrine) [this is a dried fermented fish]
200g dried smoked fish
100g dried fish
100g kethiakh (smoked sardines)
100g yokhoss (smoked oysters)
100g touffa (dried sea snails)
100g of pagnes (dried clams)
500g peeled prawns
150g cornille beans, soaked over night
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cabbage cut in 2
1 aubergine, diced
1 bitter eggplant (also known as bitter tomato), diced
1 cassava, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato (white), peeled and chopped
5 okra, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 tbsp of tomato puree
1 onion
1 hot red chilli or green chilli
150ml groundnut oil
salt freshly-ground black pepper and chilli powder, to taste
1 tsp of nététou powder
3 garlic cloves
1 stock cube
1.5l of water
1 Habanero or Scotch Bonnet chilli
800g fragrant long grain rice (typically Thai Jasmine)
Beuguedj (optional)
Method:
Bring 1l water to a boil. Add in the pagnes, yokhoss and touffa. Boil for 10 minutes, which will both help to soften them and remove all the sand that may be contained inside. Drain and set aside.
Break the dried and smoked and dried fish into large chunks and wash thoroughly to remove any sand. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix together the finely-chopped garlic, onion, bell pepper, crumbled stock cube and chillies then set aside.
Place all the other seafood in a colander and wash thoroughly under cold, running water until the water runs clear.
Take a large rice pot and place over medium heat, add the oil and use to fry the 100g dried fish pieces until browned. Remove with tongs and set aside. Add 1 tbsp of the onion mixture to the remaining oil and cook for about 5 minutes until browned then add the rehydrated beans and the tomato purée. Stir well to combine, simmer for 5 minutes then add the water. Bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes then add the touffas, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Add all the other remaining ingredients except the prawns and the dried and smoked and dried fish. Reduce the heat to minimum and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes (check the cooking of the vegetables). Once the vegetables are essentially tender add the prawns, the smoked, dried fish then turn off the heat and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
Wash your rice 2 to 3 times, drain, then scrape into a microwave-safe bowl, place in your microwave and cook on full power for 4 minutes.
Return the sauce to the heat, remove the pieces dried and smoked fish and the vegetables with a lotted spoon and set aside. Taste the liquid, adjust the seasoning then pour into a bowl. Add the rice to the pan, pour in enough of the sauce so it’s just covered then stir well, cover with a lid and let the rice suck up the sauce over high heat for about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat, cover and continue cooking for about until the rice is tender.
After 10 minutes, once there is no more sauce on the rice, turn over and cook again, this operation must be carried out at least 2 times and if you see that the rice is really dry, do not hesitate to add the remaining sauce and cover with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Serve the rice and the seafood and vegetable medley with beugueudj (seed next recipe). Alternatively, you could serve with a steamed okra paste.
