Thieboudienne (Fish & Rice)
Senegal's national dish: fish and vegetables simmered in a tomato broth, served over broken rice.
Seafood
⚠ Contains: Fish, Peanut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
How this varies: There's also thieboudienne bu weex ("white" thieboudienne) made without tomato paste for a lighter, more herbaceous broth; some cooks deepen the red version's broth with tamarind pulp or netetou (fermented locust bean) for extra funk.
Ingredients
- 4 firm white fish steaks or fillets (grouper/thiof traditional), pockets cut for stuffing
- 1 bunch parsley, 4 cloves garlic, 2 scotch bonnet or bird's eye chilies, salt (for the roff paste)
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup peanut oil (traditional) or vegetable oil
- 2 carrots, chunked
- 1 small cassava (yuca), peeled and chunked
- 1 eggplant, chunked
- 1 small cabbage wedge
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (for the broth)
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups fish or vegetable stock/water
- 3 cups broken rice (or regular rice), rinsed
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Steps
- Blend parsley, garlic, chili, and salt into a coarse paste (roff). Cut pockets in the fish and stuff with the paste, pressing to seal.
- Heat oil in a large heavy pot; sear the stuffed fish 2-3 minutes per side until browned but not cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- In the same oil, saute onion until soft, add tomato paste, and fry, stirring, until it darkens and the oil separates, 5-8 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes if using, stock/water, bay leaf, and the whole scotch bonnet. Bring to a boil.
- Add cassava and carrots first (longest-cooking); simmer 15 minutes. Add eggplant and simmer 10 minutes more. Add cabbage and simmer until vegetables are just tender.
- Nestle the fish back into the pot; simmer gently 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Remove fish and vegetables, keep warm.
- Strain the broth, discarding the whole chili and bay leaf; skim excess oil if desired.
- Bring the strained broth back to a boil, taste and adjust salt, add the rinsed rice, cover, and cook over low heat until tender and the broth is absorbed, 20-25 minutes.
- Let the rice rest covered 5 minutes off heat — a golden crust (xoon) will have formed on the bottom; scrape it out and serve it alongside as a prized crispy treat.
- Mound the rice on a platter, top with the fish and vegetables, and serve.