CAMEROONIAN ROASTED FISH

Father Francis fried five fresh fish for five French fathers from France.

Say that really fast.We remember walking on the streets of Cameroon, looking for some “roasted fish” to quench our raging taste buds after being away from home for a whole year. After eating the fish on that day, we felt very happy and at home. “Roasted fish” as it is called in Cameroon is fish, grilled on charcoal and popularly sold on the streets.

It is:

• Smoky
• Spicy
• Song-inducing (it will make you sing!)
• Succulent

Known in French as Poisson Braisé, this darling is widely loved in Cameroon. We started trying to make ours first by loading an old pot with charcoal, lighting it up, putting a grill on it and grilling.

Then one evening we visited a friend and in a few minutes, just like magic, she had made some satisfying grilled fish. We asked her how she did it and she said she “grilled” right on her gas cooker (stovetop). The thing is we could not even tell the difference between her fish and the “real deal” made on charcoal. This was totally cool so we started making our fish in a skillet or oven tray on the stovetop. Oh man, best decision of ma laif!

The capital of the Littoral region in Cameroon, Douala is the hub of this dish. As the curious Precious that we are, we asked a Douala woman to teach us how they make their exotic pepper sauce to go with the fish. The first time we made the sauce with her prescribed ingredients, we felt like we were eating fish at the roadside. So authentic! By the way, “Curious Precious” will make a good cartoon title. Can we brag a little? This recipe is the best and easiest Cameroonian Roasted Fish recipe you will find!

Click the play button below to see how the magic happens.

Here is the printable recipe for you! print recipe Cameroon Roasted Fish by Precious Nkeih (www.) August-10-2016 This is grilled fish done with Cameroonian flavours. worth making again! Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized mackerel or another type of fish
• 2 habanero (hot) pepper
• 1 large onion
• 1-inch ginger root
• 7 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 2 small seasoning cubes (Maggi)
• 12 seeds njangsa
• A pinch salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 stems green onions
• 1 “pebe” (African nutmeg/Ehuru)

Instructions 1. Clean and gut fish. Rinse thoroughly with water then cut diagonal lines across each fish on each side. Sprinkle with about a quarter teaspoon of salt and rub well, making sure salt gets into the cuts. Set aside.2. Chop onions, peel garlic, ginger and pebe. Put all in a blender. Add in njangsa, white pepper, Maggi and a pinch of salt. Add in a quarter cup of water and blend into a paste.3. Pour half of the paste into a bowl to use as your marinade. Now add hot pepper to the spice paste and blend again.4. Pour the pepper and spice mixture into a small pot. Add a quarter cup of oil and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.5.At this point, you could just marinate the fish and grill in an oven or follow this super easy method: Put a flat frying pan or an oven tray on medium heat (see video). Pour in a cup of water and about a quarter cup of oil to prevent fish from sticking.6. Rub marinade on fish and place on cooking tray. Let one side cook for about 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure water and oil are evenly distributed. If it dries up when fish is not properly cooked, add a little more. Flip and let the other side cook for about the same time.7. The fish is ready if it flakes easily when pricked with a fork. Serve warm with some of the made sauce on the side and some Niondo/Bobolo (fermented cassava (yuca) rolled in leaves and cooked) or some grilled plantains or fried Irish potatoes. Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 2 servings

Notes: If you wish to use an oven to grill, feel free to place the fish into the oven after rubbing marinade all over.

Check out our oven grilled fish recipe.

What’s the one thing you like to eat with grilled fish? Fried/grilled plantains, French fries, Bobolo, Miondo or bread?