Okra Rice and Red-oil Fish Recipe

Origin: Liberia      Period: Traditional

This recipe is another of my wife's classic Liberian recipes. Like most West Africans she is an intuitive cook (and a very good one). This recipe is my own redaction of her cooking and an attempt to shoehorn an African recipe into a Westernized, timed, method of cooking. My wife was horrified the first time I showed her one of these redacted recipes, but she is now quite proud that this traditional fare is being made generally available to all.

Ingredients

150g finely-chopped okra, steamed
2 onions
4 whole fish (tilapia, red snapper, perch etc)
2 bitter tomatoes, roughly chopped (or substitute green tomatoes and a small aubergine)
60g dried piri-piri chillies, pounded to a paste
12 Scotch Bonnet chilles
3 Scotch Bonnet chillies
300g cooked prawns (with shells) [optional]
3 large smoked fish, cleaned and flaked into pieces
400ml red palm oil
3 Maggi (or stock) cubes
2 tsp ground black pepper

Okra Rice and Red-oil Fish Preparation:

Method:

Begin by steaming the chopped okra over boiling water for about 50' (this can be done by placing he okra in a plastic bag and dangling over the water). Meanwhile pound the piri-piri chillies to a powder, add the 12 Scotch Bonnet chillies and pound to a fine paste. Finely-chop half an onion and pound into the chilli paste. Roughly chop the remaining onion and add to a large pan along with the fish and bitter tomatoes. Add the remaining whole chillies along with the prawns, smoked fish, red palm oil and 4 tbsp of the chilli paste. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 50 minutes before adding about 2l of water.

Stir to mix the ingredients thoroughly then crumble-in the Maggi cubes and ground black pepper. Stir to incorporate, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. At this point remove the chopped okra and use the steaming liquid in which to cook your rice. Place the steamed okra in a pestle and mortar and pound to a smooth, gelatinous, paste. Season with salt and black pepper and set aside.

Once the rice is ready mix the remaining chilli and onion paste into your fish stew. Place the okra paste on top of your rice and allow to cook for a few minutes to heat through.

When ready to serve, place your rice in a bowl and mix a little of the okra paste into the rice. Spoon the fish stew into a separate bowl and serve the rice and fish immediately.

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