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Yétissé de Poisson (Fish Yetisse)

Yétissé de Poisson (Fish Yetisse) is a traditional Guinean recipe (from Guinea-Konakry) for classic dish of fish in a vegetable sauce served with okra-flavoured rice. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Guinea version of: Fish Yetisse (Yétissé de Poisson).

prep time

30 minutes

cook time

90 minutes

Total Time:

120 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Vegetable RecipesMali Recipes

This is a classic fish, okra and cassava stew from the the Republic of Guinea (also known as Guinea-Konakry) in West Africa (the dish is also known and made in Senegal). Cassava is an important staple in West Africa. It's native to Brazil and was introduced to West Africa by the Portuguese. The roots of the tree and the leaves are edible. It is unusual, though, in that once harvested it undergoes accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiated by cyanide release during mechanical harvesting. This can be partially suppressed by coating the tuber in wax (otherwise cassava has a shelf life of less than 15 days). Cyanide release also occurs on peeling and chopping, so cassava should always be submerged in a bowl of water prior to cooking. The cooking process destroys the cyanogenic compounds, rendering cassava safe to eat (this is why cassava is leached in water prior to drying).

Ingredients:

2kg tuna steaks (or any firm white fish steaks such as tilapia, hake, cod)
2 aubergines (eggplants), sliced into large cubes
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm (2 in) lengths
1 whole cassava root, peeled and cut into 5cm (2 in) pieces
6 onions, chopped
3cm (1 in) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
8 tbsp tomato purée
300g (2/3 lb) tomatoes, diced
2 chicken stock cubes (e.g. Maggi)
4 tbsp red palm oil
2 hot chillies
400g (14 oz) fresh okra
Vegetable oil, for frying
1kg (2 lbs) cooked rice, to accompany
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the fish steaks and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until golden and just cooked through. Transfer to kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

Add 2 tbsp red palm oil to a large pot and once hot use to fry the onions and aubergines for about 8 minutes, until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Combine the ginger, garlic, fried aubergine and onions in a food processor and render to a smooth paste.

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, tomato purée, stock cubes and the whole chillies. Add the remaining red palm oil to a pan and once hot stir in the tomato mixture. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes then add the carrots, cassava and the aubergine puree. Stir in a little boiling water to slacken, stir to combine, season to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, adding a little more water if the mixture becomes too thick.

Nestle in the fish steaks and cook for 15 minutes until heated through.

Separately bring a large pan of slightly-salted water to a boil, add the okra and boil for 10 minutes. Also prepare your rice. Once the okra is boiled, drain and pound to a paste in a mortar. Mix the okra paste with the cooked rice.

Arrange the rice and okra mix on a large serving tray, spoon over the fish steaks and the vegetable sauce then serve.

Traditionally this is served as a communal dish for everyone to share from.