Catfish broth

Name: Catfish broth
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: RD Congo
Ingredients: 800 g prepared food-grade catfish in four similar bone-in steaks; 150 g sliced onion; 300 g crushed ripe tomatoes; 100 g seeded green bell pepper, chopped; 20 g washed sliced spring onion; 10 g washed chopped parsley; 8 g chopped garlic; 15 ml lemon juice, at serving; 20 ml neutral vegetable oil; 800 ml drinking water for broth; 4 g salt, adjusted; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

🥣 Catfish steaks gently cooked in fluid tomato and vegetable broth, four portions without starch sides.

Ingredients

800 g prepared food-grade catfish in four similar bone-in steaks
150 g sliced onion
300 g crushed ripe tomatoes
100 g seeded green bell pepper, chopped
20 g washed sliced spring onion
10 g washed chopped parsley
8 g chopped garlic
15 ml lemon juice, at serving
20 ml neutral vegetable oil
800 ml drinking water for broth
4 g salt, adjusted
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Prepare vegetables and herbs with clean utensils. Check steaks, remove accessible bone fragments and pat dry; refrigerate and separate raw utensils.

Heat 20 ml oil, soften onion five minutes without browning heavily, then garlic one minute.

Add tomatoes and pepper and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring; keep base moist rather than reducing thickly.

Add 800 ml water and part of salt, bring to simmer and lower heat. Leave room for four steaks without overflow.

Add fish carefully and partly cover. Gently cook 12–15 minutes depending on thickness, avoiding vigorous boiling and rough stirring.

Add spring onion and parsley and cook 3–5 minutes more. Probe thick flesh with clean thermometer avoiding bones: at least 63 °C, opaque and flaking. Extend gently if needed.

Add pepper and taste a cooled spoonful of cooked broth before adjusting salt. Remove heat once fish is cooked; keep liquid fluid and pieces intact.

Serve four portions in deep plates, dividing 15 ml lemon to taste. Warn about bones; cool leftovers promptly, refrigerate and use within 24 hours after thorough reheating.