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Riz Wolof (Wolof Rice)

Riz Wolof (Wolof Rice) is a traditional Guinean recipe for a classic one-pot dish of fish, cracked rice and vegetables in a tomato base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Guinean version of: Wolof Rice (Riz Wolof).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

130 minutes

Total Time:

150 minutes

Serves:

12

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Chilli RecipesVegetable RecipesGuinea Recipes

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This dish is originally Senegalese (where it is called Tchèp Djen [or variants thereof]). However, over recent years it has become extremely popular in Guinea (Guinea-Conakry) and there it is commonly called 'wolof rice' (riz Wolof in French, Yolfè bandé in Sosso and Gniri Djölfö in Fulani).

This is a great dish, ideal for all the family to share. In essence it's the Guinean version of Senegalese theboudienne, the fore-runner of the jollof rice that's found throughout West Africa.

Ingredients:

2kg cracked rice (if you do not have this, simply whizz the rice in a blender until the grains are lightly broken)
500ml vegetable oil
2.2kg fish (preferably red grouper, but you can also use sea bream or even catfish), scaled and cleaned then cut into thick steaks (gut the fish through the gills so that the belly flap of skin is intact in each steak — this makes them much easier to stuff later)
2 large onions
2 garlic cloves
1kg tomato purée
1 large bunch of parsley
4 Maggi or Jumbo cubes
2 hot chillies (Scotch bonnets typically)
coarse sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
50g yett (smoked and dried winkles) [yét in Guinea]
100g piece of guedj (smoked and dried fish)
1/4 white cabbage
1/4 cauliflower, separated into large florets
2 large aubergines (eggplants), stalks removed and halved lengthways
700g small carrots, scraped and halved lengthways
3 wild aubergines (garden eggs), stalks removed and halved lengthways
1 cassava tuber, peeled and cubed
85g fresh okra, stalk ends trimmed off and halved lengthways

Method:

Add 2l water to a large pot and season with salt. Bring to a boil then add the carrots, aubergines, wild aubergines, cassava, cauliflower and okra. Cook for 20 minutes, or until tender then drain and reserve the vegetables and their cooking stock.

In the meantime prepare the fish stuffing (this is called 'röf'). Take 1 onion, peel and quarter. Add to a mortar with the garlic, parsley, 1 chilli, 3 Maggi cubes and black pepper. Pound to a smooth paste then season the fish fillets with coarse salt and use half the röf paste to stuff them.

Heat a deep fryer to 180°C and use this to fry the stuffed fish steaks until cooked through and nicely browned on the outside. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen paper to drain.

Chop the remaining onion. Heat oil in a large, non-stick pot then add the chopped onion. Fry for about 6 minutes, or until browned then season to taste with coarse sea salt and stir in a handful of the remaining röf paste, followed by the tomato purée. Crumble in the remaining Maggi cube then cook for 5 minutes.

Whilst the tomato sauce is cooking, wash the rice well, drain then place in a steamer basket and steam over a pan of boiling water for about 30 minutes, or until tender.

Once the tomato sauce has cooked, stir in the reserved vegetable stock then carefully add the pieces of fried fish along with the yett and the smoked fish (wash and flake the smoked fish first).

Finally add the cooked vegetables to the pot. Half, cover with a lid, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for 30 minutes more. At this point remove the vegetables and set aside to keep warm. Cook for 5 minutes more then remove the fish and set this aside as well.

Adjust the seasonings to taste then remove some of the stock and pour over the vegetables. Stir the cooked rice into the sauce. Cover the top of the pot with a sheet of kitchen foil and sit the lid on top. Cook gently over low heat for 30 minutes more.

The rice mixture is done when the liquid has been completely absorbed.

To serve, arrange the rice on a large serving dish. Arrange the fish pieces on top then sit the vegetables down the centre. If some of the cooking sauce is left over, turn this into a dish and serve as an accompaniment.