Thieboudienne Rouge — Print Recipe

A vibrant dish of broken rice cooked in a rich, red tomato-based sauce with stuffed fish and assorted vegetables. This colorful one-pot meal is the everyday lunch staple of southern Mauritania.

Ingredients

2 cups broken rice
600g firm whole fish or thick fillets
4 tbsp tomato paste
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 eggplant, quartered
2 carrots, halved
200g cassava, chunked
1 cabbage quarter
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Parsley and scotch bonnet for stuffing
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
4 cups water

Instructions

1 Make a paste of garlic, parsley, and scotch bonnet. Cut slits in the fish and stuff with the paste.
2 Brown the stuffed fish in oil on both sides. Remove and set aside carefully.
3 In the same pot, cook onions with tomato paste until darkened. Add chopped tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.
4 Add water, bring to a boil. Add carrots, cassava, and eggplant. Simmer 20 minutes.
5 Remove vegetables and fish to a platter. Add rice to the broth, cover, and cook on low for 25 minutes.
6 Mound the red rice on a platter, arrange fish and vegetables on top in a beautiful display.

Did You Know?

The color of the rice in thieboudienne rouge is a point of pride — the deeper the red, the more skilled the cook.