Thiéboudienne

Ingredients

• 4 pieces white fish steaks
• 500 g broken rice
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 large onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch parsley
• 4 stalks scallions
• 3 medium carrot
• 0.5 head cabbage
• 300 g cassava
• 2 whole scotch bonnet
• 60 ml vegetable oil

Steps

1. Blend parsley, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet, and salt into a green paste.
2. Make a deep slit in each fish steak and stuff with the paste; rest 10 minutes.
3. Brown the stuffed fish in vegetable oil on both sides; remove and set aside.
4. In the same pot, fry sliced onion until translucent, then stir in tomato paste and cook 5 minutes until darkened.
5. Add water to cover, then carrots, cabbage wedges, cassava, and a whole scotch bonnet.
6. Return fish to the pot and simmer 20 minutes; remove fish and vegetables, keep warm.
7. Stir broken rice into the red broth, cover, and simmer 25 minutes until rice is tender and crusted on the bottom.
8. Mound rice on a platter, arrange fish and vegetables on top, scoop the crusty bottom rice over everything.

Tips

• Tamarind paste added to the broth gives the proper sour-funky depth.
• The crusty bottom rice (xoon) is the prized bite — do not stir while the rice simmers.