Catfish and Carrot Sauce
Nigeria
Rising Cook
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Catfish is everywhere in Nigeria now, and the reason is farming rather than fishing. Catfish aquaculture expanded enormously across the country from the 1990s onward, at both household and commercial scale, and a fish that was once a river catch became one of the most available proteins in the market. Dishes built around it have multiplied accordingly. This one is a contemporary Nigerian preparation rather than an inherited dish. Carrot and tomato are blended into a sauce in a three to one ratio, so the carrot rather than the tomato carries it, giving a sweeter and thicker base than a standard Nigerian stew. The fish is marinated, grilled or baked separately, and set into the sauce at the end rather than cooked in it. Cleaning is the part that determines whether it works. Catfish is naturally slimy and has to be scrubbed with salt, alum, potash or maize chaff, and soaking it briefly in hot water both removes the remaining slime and firms the flesh so it holds together instead of breaking apart. Grilling rather than frying keeps that firmness. It is served with rice, potato or yam.
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself.
Wash the catfish thoroughly with potash, maize or wheat chaff, since the skin is very slimy.
Cut into the size you want.
Place on a tray and allow the water to dry off for 10 minutes.
Wash and blend the cayenne pepper, onion and red bell pepper.
Pour into a bowl and add the seasoning, salt, fresh garlic and lemon.
Marinate the fish for 20 minutes, then grill for 15 minutes, or bake if you prefer.
Wash and cut the carrots and tomatoes into small cubes, using three parts carrot to one part tomato.
Blend the carrot and tomato until smooth and pour into a saucepan.
Add the marinade juice from the fish, seasoning and salt, and fry until you reach a thick consistency.
Cut more carrot into large chunks and add them to the sauce. Stir until tender, then remove from the heat.
Serve the sauce in a bowl with the catfish on top, garnished with cucumber or a herb of your choice.
Personal notes from Maryam Al-Mansour5 reviews
Couldn't get potash here in Thamesmead so I just used lime juice and salt to scrub the slime off the catfish, worked fine sha. The half lemon mixed with the blended cayenne and garlic gives the sauce such a nice bright flavor. Ate it with boiled yam yesterday, e sweet o!
Using lime and salt for the slime is a great shout, we do the exact same thing with salt and lemon in Indian fish prep to get rid of any riveriness. That garlic, cayenne and lemon combination reminds me so much of how we build a quick onion-and-chilli masala base. Must try it with boiled yam next!
Bought fresh catfish from Rye Lane in Peckham specifically for this. I was a bit skeptical about using 6 whole carrots because my mother never added that many to her fish sauce, but it really balances the heat from the cayenne peppers. Just make sure you don't skip letting the fish dry on the tray before cooking or it will break apart in the sauce.
Never cooked catfish this way before, usually just fry it or make nuggets. I didn't have wheat chaff or potash to get the slime off, so I just rinsed thoroughly with salt water and dried it for the 10 minutes on a tray as stated. Is salt water enough for cleaning catfish? The flavor from the cayenne and garlic blended together was fantastic though, spicy but delicious.
Sawa Brian, salt water works well, but adding a bit of lemon juice or vinegar helps even more with that slime. Finding potash or wheat chaff here in Dubai is nearly impossible, so we always adapt! Glad the cayenne and garlic hit the spot, that combination is very poa with catfish nyama.