Smoked Fish Stew — Print Recipe

Rich chunks of smoked fish braised in a thick, peppery tomato and palm oil sauce with onions and scotch bonnet. The smokiness of the fish infuses every spoonful with deep, complex flavor.

Ingredients

500g smoked catfish or mackerel, deboned and flaked
5 ripe tomatoes, blended
2 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp palm oil
1 scotch bonnet pepper, sliced
2 tbsp ground crayfish
1 tsp ground cameroon pepper
2 seasoning cubes
Salt to taste
Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1 Rinse the smoked fish gently, remove any bones, and break into large flakes. Do not soak too long or it will lose its smoky flavor.
2 Heat palm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onions until deeply golden, about ten minutes.
3 Add garlic and scotch bonnet pepper, cooking for one minute. Pour in the blended tomatoes and cook for fifteen minutes until thick.
4 Stir in the ground crayfish, cameroon pepper, and seasoning cubes. Cook for five more minutes.
5 Add the flaked smoked fish to the sauce, folding gently to avoid breaking the pieces too much. Simmer for ten minutes to let the fish absorb the flavors.
6 Adjust salt to taste and garnish with fresh basil. Serve over rice, with boiled yams, or alongside fried plantains.

Did You Know?

Smoking fish over mangrove wood is a centuries-old preservation technique along the Equatorial Guinean coast that gives the fish a distinctive flavor unavailable from any other method.