🇸🇱 Sierra Leonean Cuisine

Bonga Fish Stew

Smoked Herring Stew

Prep Time 40 min

Servings 6

Difficulty Easy

Calories 348 kcal

A robust stew built on smoked bonga fish cooked in a tomato and pepper base with onions, delivering an intensely smoky and savory flavor.

Ingredients

6 smoked bonga fish
4 large tomatoes, blended
2 red bell peppers, blended
2 scotch bonnet peppers
2 large onions, chopped
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground crayfish
2 bouillon cubes
Salt to taste

Instructions

1 Rinse smoked bonga fish, remove heads and bones. Set aside.
2 Heat oil in a pot, fry onions until golden.
3 Add tomato paste, cook 2 minutes.
4 Add blended tomato and pepper mixture, cook 15 minutes.
5 Add bonga fish, crayfish, scotch bonnet, and bouillon cubes.
6 Simmer 15 minutes until sauce is thick and fish is heated through.
7 Serve with steamed rice or gari.

Did You Know?

Bonga fish is so central to Sierra Leonean life that its price fluctuation is a genuine economic indicator — when bonga is expensive, the nation worries.