Smoked fish in sauce — peixe fumado em molho

Name: Smoked fish in sauce — peixe fumado em molho
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mozambique
Ingredients: 🐟 500 g smoked fish pieces, weighed after removing large bones; 💧 750 ml hot drinking water for soaking and poaching, adjusted to desalting; 🍅 300 g ripe chopped tomatoes; 🧅 1 sliced large onion; 🧄 3 crushed garlic cloves; 🫚 2 cm fresh grated ginger; 🫗 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 🥥 150 ml unsweetened coconut milk, optional; 🥬 200 g washed and chopped spinach or leafy greens; 🌶️ 1 small fresh piri-piri chilli, optional; 🍋 Juice of 1/2 lime, added at the end; 🧂 Fine salt only after tasting; smoked fish may already be very salty; 🌿 2 tbsp chopped coriander or parsley, optional; 🍚 Rice, xima or cassava to serve; sides excluded from estimates

🔥🐟 Rehydrated smoked fish simmered with tomato, onion, ginger and greens in a salt-adjusted sauce.

Ingredients

🐟 500 g smoked fish pieces, weighed after removing large bones
💧 750 ml hot drinking water for soaking and poaching, adjusted to desalting
🍅 300 g ripe chopped tomatoes
🧅 1 sliced large onion
🧄 3 crushed garlic cloves
🫚 2 cm fresh grated ginger
🫗 1 tbsp vegetable oil
🥥 150 ml unsweetened coconut milk, optional
🥬 200 g washed and chopped spinach or leafy greens
🌶️ 1 small fresh piri-piri chilli, optional
🍋 Juice of 1/2 lime, added at the end
🧂 Fine salt only after tasting; smoked fish may already be very salty
🌿 2 tbsp chopped coriander or parsley, optional
🍚 Rice, xima or cassava to serve; sides excluded from estimates

Preparation

Choose smoked fish intended for food, stored according to its label and with no rancid or mouldy smell. Keep it dry or chilled as the seller directs until preparation. Remove very hard skin and visible large bones.

Rinse pieces quickly under safe cold water. Cover with hot water in a bowl for 10 minutes to soften and remove some salt; this is not sterilisation. Discard the water and taste a small piece.

If it remains very salty, poach for 5 minutes in 300 ml gently simmering fresh water, discard the water and taste again. Repeat only if needed. Drain, cool enough to handle and carefully remove remaining bones with clean fingers or tweezers.

Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5–6 minutes until soft. Add garlic, ginger and optional piri-piri; stir for 1 minute without browning the garlic.

Add tomatoes and cook uncovered for 8–10 minutes until soft and reduced. Do not add salt yet. Taste the reduced base; smoked fish already contributes salt and varies greatly in intensity.

Add 200 ml drinking water and bring to a gentle simmer. Add prepared smoked fish, partially cover and cook gently for 12 minutes. Turn large pieces once carefully so they absorb sauce without breaking apart.

Pour in optional coconut milk and add chopped greens. Keep a gentle simmer for 6–8 minutes until vegetables are cooked and fish is steaming hot; use a clean thermometer and reach 63°C if the product requires thorough cooking.

Remove from heat, add lime juice and herbs. Taste before adding any salt; thin with a little water if too concentrated. Serve hot with rice, xima or cassava. Remove all bones and mention smoked fish, optional coconut and variable salt.