nigerian concoction rice with smoked fish and shredded african blue basil served on a plate
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Concoction Rice

Concoction Rice is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic one-pot dish of rice, onion, ground crayfish, stockfish and smoked mackerel in a red oil base that's finished with African blue basil. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Concoction Rice.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

90 minutes

Total Time:

110 minutes

Serves:

6

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Spice RecipesHerb RecipesStew RecipesFish RecipesNigeria Recipes

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Method:

Soak the dry fish and stockfish in cold or hot water and when soft, clean and separate them into small pieces.

In a large pan, combine the drained rice with 600ml of water and ½ tsp Salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Cook for 10 minutes until the rice is about 70% done (it should still retain a slight bite). Drain any excess liquid and spread the rice on a tray to cool. This partial cooking ensures the grains stay separate during the subsequent cooking.

Grind the crayfish (if not ground) with the iru using a spice grinder. Pick over and wash the vegetables. There's no need to slice, but you can do so if you wish.

Separate the smoked Mackerel into big chunks.

Put the pieces of stockfish and dry fish in a large enough pan. Add the diced onions and the stock cubes then pour over enough water to cover the ingredients and cook till the stockfish is very soft.

Add the uziza pepper, ground crayfish and palm oil then season with black pepper.

Top up the water so it's level with the contents of the pan (if necessary). Cover and cook over medium to high heat for about 7 minutes. This is the time the palm oil needs to fully integrate into the ingredients.

Add the drained parboiled rice, stir very well and check that the liquid is at the same level as the rice. If too low, top it up with more water.

Arrange the smoked fish and the vegetables on top of the rice.

Cover the pan and set aside to cook over low to medium heat. This way the rice will not burn before the water dries up.

If the rice is parboiled correctly, the Concoction Rice should be done by the time the water dries up. Taste and bite into a rice grain to confirm. If not, you will need to add more water and reduce the heat to prevent burning. Keep cooking till done.

Once the rice is done, turn off the heat. Add the scent leaves or parsley on top of the rice, cover and leave to steam for 5 minutes.

Fluff the rice with a fork, turn into a warmed serving dish and serve accompanied by Fried Plantain or Moi Moi.

For more Jollof rice and jollof-related recipes see the more jollof rice/thieboudienne/riz au gras recipes page