Sayadeya

Ingredients

The fish

• 1.2 kgfirm white fish
• sea bass, bream or grouper
• in steaks or whole
• juice of 2 lemons
• salt and black pepper

The onions

• 5large onions
• sliced thinly
• 6 tablespoonsoil
• for deep caramelising

The rice

• 500 glong grain rice
• rinsed and drained
• about 900 ml fish stock
• from the trimmings
• 2 teaspoonsground cumin
• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• 1 teaspoonturmeric
• 1cinnamon stick
• 3bay leaves
• salt

To finish

• toasted almonds or pine nuts
• chopped parsley
• lemon wedges
• a tahini sauce, optional

Directions

1. Cook it slowly on a moderate heat. Stir it regularly right through. It takes only twenty minutes to make. Rinse them thoroughly before using. Cut the gills out and discard them. Cut them out with kitchen scissors. Cover the trimmings with cold water.
2. Bring it up gently to a simmer. Give it about twenty minutes only. Skim all the scum as it rises. Grey scum rises in the first minutes. Lift it off with a flat spoon. That keeps the finished stock clear. Season the fish with lemon and salt. Rub it all over all the pieces. Let it sit for thirty minutes. Do not leave it for much longer. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan.
3. Add all the sliced onions to it. Do not reduce that quantity at all. Cook them on a steady moderate heat. Give them at least forty minutes.
4. Stir them regularly right through. Stir more often as they darken. They should be deep mahogany brown. Start again rather than using them. Lift some onions out for the top. Keep a handful back for garnish. Blend the onions with a little stock. That gives a smooth dark liquid. Add the spices to the onion pan. Fry them briefly in the hot oil.
5. Heat releases their aromatic oils. Give them about thirty seconds only. Stir them so they do not burn. Stir the drained rice into the pan. Coat every single grain in the oil. That keeps the grains separate.
6. Pour in all of the hot fish stock. Use about one and a half parts stock. Adjust it after the first attempt. Use hot stock rather than cold. Cold stock stops the cooking dead. Heat the stock before it goes in. Bring it to a boil and lower it. Cover the pot tightly with a lid. Let it steam for about fifteen minutes. Do not lift that lid at all early.
7. Spread the rice in a baking dish. Spread it out in an even layer. Lay the fish pieces over the rice. Press them lightly into the rice. Bake it at one hundred and ninety degrees. Give it about twenty-five minutes.
8. Cover it with foil if it dries. Judging it takes a proper check. Check it at the very thickest point. Fish should reach sixty-three degrees. Check it at the thickest part. It goes dry and falls right apart. Take it out as soon as it flakes. Do not leave it in for longer.
9. Let it stand there for ten minutes. It is also extremely hot at first. Scatter the reserved onions over it. Add the toasted nuts and parsley. The nuts go soft if added early. Scatter them over quite generously. Serving it is always done hot. Serve it straight from the dish. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• The onions are cooked genuinely dark — deep mahogany, well past golden — over at least forty minutes on a moderate heat, since that colour is what dyes the whole rice. But deep caramelised onion and burnt onion are different things and the line between them is narrow: watch constantly near the end, smell as much as look, and stop while it smells sweet rather than acrid. Burnt onions cannot be rescued and make the whole dish bitter, so start again rather than using them.
• Fish stock from the trimmings transforms the rice where water gives a far blander result, and it takes only twenty minutes. Simmer it no longer than that, since fish stock turns bitter rather than richer with time — a real difference from meat stock — and cut the gills out first, since they make it bitter and cloudy.
• Fish overcooks very quickly and goes dry and falls apart; take it out as soon as the flesh is opaque and flakes easily, or reaches sixty-three degrees at the thickest point.

Substitutions

• Blending the caramelised onions with a little stock gives a smooth dark liquid that colours the rice evenly and thickens it slightly; leaving them whole gives visible pieces. Both are genuinely done — keep a handful back either way for scattering over the finished dish.
• Almonds or pine nuts toasted and scattered on top are visible but tree nut allergy can be severe, so say clearly if you have used them.

Variations

• Five onions sounds like a great many but they reduce enormously, so that volume is genuinely needed — do not reduce it.
• Coat every grain of rice in the spiced oil for two minutes before any liquid goes in, which keeps the grains separate and flavours them directly, and use hot stock rather than cold, which stops the cooking dead and makes the rice gummy.
• Cook the rice only until it has absorbed the stock and is still slightly firm, since it finishes in the oven under the fish; press the fish pieces lightly into it so their juices run down and flavour it.

History

A fisherman’s dish of the Mediterranean coast, from sayad, fisherman; the rice takes its colour from deeply caramelised onions and the fish stock.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sayadeya?

Sayadeya is a main from Egypt: fish baked over caramelized-onion spiced rice; Alexandrian coastal favourite. A fisherman’s dish of the Mediterranean coast, from sayad, fisherman; the rice takes its colour from deeply caramelised onions and the fish stock.

How long does Sayadeya take to make?

Sayadeya takes 40 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sayadeya?

Yes, within limits. Blending the caramelised onions with a little stock gives a smooth dark liquid that colours the rice evenly and thickens it slightly; leaving them whole gives visible pieces. Both are genuinely done — keep a handful back either way for scattering over the finished dish. Almonds or pine nuts toasted and scattered on top are visible but tree nut allergy can be severe, so say clearly if you have used them.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sayadeya?

Bring it up gently to a simmer. Give it about twenty minutes only. Skim all the scum as it rises. Grey scum rises in the first minutes. Lift it off with a flat spoon. That keeps the finished stock clear. Season the fish with lemon and salt. Rub it all over all the pieces. Let it sit for thirty minutes. Do not leave it for much longer. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan.