Fish Banga — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Whole fish simmered in a thick, fiery palm fruit extract sauce loaded with aromatic spices and scotch bonnet peppers. The palm fruit creates an incomparably rich, orange-red gravy.

Ingredients

1kg whole tilapia or snapper, cleaned and scored
400ml palm fruit extract
3 large onions, diced
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 scotch bonnet peppers
3 tbsp ground crayfish
1 tsp dried uziza seeds
1 tsp ground cameroon pepper
2 seasoning cubes
Salt to taste
Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1 Season the whole fish inside and out with salt, ground cameroon pepper, and minced garlic. Make three diagonal cuts on each side of the fish for flavor penetration.
2 Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the palm fruit extract and bring to a simmer. Cook for ten minutes, stirring, until the oil separates slightly.
3 Add the diced onions and chopped tomatoes to the palm fruit sauce. Cook for fifteen minutes until the vegetables soften and meld into the sauce.
4 Crush the uziza seeds in a mortar and pestle and add to the pot along with the ground crayfish and seasoning cubes. Stir well and simmer five more minutes.
5 Carefully lower the seasoned fish into the simmering sauce. Add the whole scotch bonnet peppers on top. Cover and cook on low heat for twenty-five minutes.
6 Baste the fish occasionally with the sauce, being careful not to break it apart. The sauce should thicken and cling to the fish.
7 Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve with pounded yam, boiled plantains, or steamed rice.

Did You Know?

Palm fruit extract is made by boiling and pounding the red fruits of the oil palm tree, then straining out the fiber to create a rich, creamy concentrate.