Sayadieh — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Golden saffron-turmeric rice topped with pan-fried fish and a deeply caramelized onion sauce, finished with toasted pine nuts. This coastal Jordanian dish from Aqaba celebrates the bounty of the Red Sea.

Ingredients

4 white fish fillets (sea bass or grouper)
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups fish stock or water
1/4 cup pine nuts
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Flour for dusting

Instructions

1 Season fish fillets with salt, pepper, cumin, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Dust lightly with flour and pan-fry in vegetable oil until golden on both sides. Set aside.
2 In the same pan, heat olive oil and cook sliced onions over medium-low heat for 30 minutes until deeply caramelized to a dark amber color, stirring occasionally.
3 Remove half the caramelized onions for the sauce. Add turmeric and cinnamon to the remaining onions in the pot, stir for one minute.
4 Add rinsed rice to the pot, stir to coat in the spiced onions. Pour in fish stock, season with salt, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 18 minutes.
5 Blend reserved caramelized onions with a splash of lemon juice and water to make a smooth onion sauce. Warm gently in a small pan.
6 Mound rice on a platter, arrange fish fillets on top, drizzle with onion sauce, and scatter toasted pine nuts over everything. Serve with lemon wedges.

Did You Know?

Aqaba fishermen traditionally prepared sayadieh on their boats using the morning catch, cooking rice in seawater for natural seasoning.