Fish Stew

Nigerian fish stew is the same red pepper base that underpins beef stew and jollof, cooked with tilapia rather than meat, and the change of protein changes how the dish is handled more than how it tastes. The base is the constant of West African cooking: blended tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion and chilli, fried down in oil until the water drives off and the oil separates. Everything else in the Nigerian stew repertoire is built on that, and fish stew is simply one branch of it. What is specific to fish is timing and handling. Fish cooks quickly and breaks apart easily, so it is usually fried or seasoned and set aside, then returned to the finished sauce near the end rather than simmered through it. Cooked the way beef would be, tilapia disintegrates and the stew turns cloudy. Tilapia is the usual choice, widely farmed, affordable and firm enough to hold together, though catfish, mackerel and croaker are all used. It is served with white rice, with any of the swallows, or alongside a vegetable soup such as efo riro.