Capitaine and Pili-Pili in Palm Oil is a traditional Congolese recipe for a classic dish of Nile perch fried in palm oil flavoured with onion and piri-piri chillies. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Congolese version of: Capitaine and Pili-Pili in Palm Oil.
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Capitaine is the Congolese name for the Nile Perch, Lates noctis a predatory freshwater fish that's a highly-prized eating fish. It's native to Lake Chad, the Nile, Congo and Niger rivers and in the 1960s it was introduced into Lake Victoria where it destroyed the native ecosystem, eliminating many of the native ciclid fish species such as the Ngege.
Ingredients:
250ml palm oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 hot chilli pepper (scotch bonnet or 2 dried piri-piri chillies) finely chopped
900g filleted fish (Nile perch if possible, but tilapia makes a good substitute)
salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
Heat the oil in a large frying pan then cook the onions and chilli peppers for a few minutes. Add the fish and cook for a few minutes on one side before turning to cook the other side. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
As variations you can add any combination of tomatoes, okra, garlic and green bell pepper with the onions.
