Riz Senegalais
(Senegalese Rice) Recipe

Origin: Senegal      Period: Traditional

This is another traditional Senegalese dish which is effectively a simplified form of Ceebu Jën. This is an extremely variable dish and the version given below is more an exemplar than the definitive version of the dish.

Ingredients:

800g rice
2 yellow bell peppers, de-seeded and chopped
10 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
small bunch of parsley, chopped (a handful reserved for garnish)
salt
1 hot chilli, chopped
1.2kg whole white fish (eg hake, haddock, sea bream, sea bass, halibut or similar)
240ml vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, blanched and peeled but whole
tomato paste
1 carrot, chopped
1 sweet cassava tuber, chopped
1 yam, chopped
1 small cabbage, shredded
2 red bell peppers, kept whole
1 squash, peeled and chopped
1 aubergine or garden egg, peeled and chopped
6 okra, chopped
cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste

Riz Senegalais
(Senegalese Rice) Preparation:

Method:

Cook the rice in twice the volume of water for about 25 minutes or until done. While the rice is cooking combine the yellow bell peppers, spring onions, garlic, parsley and salt and grind to a paste to make a stuffing for the fish. Add a little water if the mixture is too stiff. Cut a few slits in the side of the fish and stuff these slits with the stuffing. Also use the stuffing in the cavity of the fish.

Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the fish on each side until crisped and nearly done. Add onions to the pan and fry until tender. Now add tomatoes, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the fish from the pan and set aside. Add the whole peppers to the pan and then the various root vegetables. Add enough water to half-cover the vegetables, bring to a boil and simmer for about 40 minutes before adding the remaining vegetables. Add a little more water if needed then place the fish on top of the vegetables (make sure that the fish does not sit in any liquid). Simmer for a further 30 minutes. At this point carefully remove the tomatoes and about 250ml of broth and place in a separate pot. Stir the rice into this and stir to mash the tomatoes (add 1 tbsp tomato paste if desired). Cook until all the liquid has gone then tip the rice onto a serving dish. Put the fish on top of the rice and surround it with the vegetables. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve.

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