Soupou kandia

Ingredients

The okra

• 600 gfresh okra
• or 400 g frozen sliced
• trimmed and sliced
• or grated, for thickness

The fish and seafood

• 600 gfirm white fish
• in thick steaks
• 300 gsmoked fish, flaked
• or 50 g guedj, fermented fish
• 300 gprawns, shelled
• or crab or shellfish

The base

• 150 mlred palm oil
• 2onions, chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1scotch bonnet, whole
• 2 tablespoonsyet
• fermented sea snail, optional
• 1stock cube
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• plain white rice
• plenty of it
• in a wide dish
• with the stew over

Directions

1. Start with less than you think you need. Lift it out before it splits in the pot. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling it. Trim the tops and tails from the okra. Cut off the hard stem cap at the top. Do not cut into the pod itself yet. Trim the very tip if it is dry or hard. Then wash and dry them thoroughly.
2. Slice most of the okra into thin rounds. Thin slices release more mucilage entirely. Slice it all before you start cooking. Grate about a quarter of the okra coarsely. Use a coarse grater for that portion. It is already sliced and ready to use. Cut the fresh fish into thick steaks. Keep the pieces large rather than small.
3. Season them with salt and set them aside. Flake the smoked fish and check it for bones. Remove anything at all that you find. Heat the red palm oil in a large heavy pot.
4. Warm it gently rather than getting it smoking. It should be warm and fluid rather than hot. Add the onion and cook it in the palm oil. Give it about ten minutes until soft. Stir it so it does not catch on the base. Then add the crushed garlic for a minute.
5. Add the guedj or yet to the pot. Break it up as it goes into the oil. Let it cook for a minute or two. Use less than you think you need at first. Pour in enough water to make a broth. About a litre and a half is a starting point. Keep hot water ready to thin it. It should be soupy at this stage. Add all the sliced and grated okra to the pot.
6. Add it all at once rather than in stages. Stir it thoroughly through the liquid. Keep stirring so it does not clump together. Simmer the okra gently for about thirty minutes. It should be thick rather than at all soupy.
7. Stir it regularly right through that time. Thick okra stew catches on the base easily. Stir it every few minutes without fail. It should be thick enough to hold a spoon briefly. Add hot water if it becomes too thick. Add it a single ladleful at a time. Drop the whole scotch bonnet into the pot. Leave it completely whole and unbroken. A burst bonnet makes the whole pot fiercely hot.
8. Add the fresh fish for the last fifteen minutes. Fish cooks quickly and breaks up if overcooked. Shake the pot gently rather than stirring it. The pieces should stay whole in the bowl.
9. Add the prawns for the last five minutes. Five minutes is genuinely enough for them. Season the stew with salt and pepper. Taste it carefully before adding any salt. It may well need very little more. Cook plenty of plain white rice.
10. Make more rice than seems necessary. This stew is rich and needs plenty beneath it. Spread the rice out in a wide serving dish. Spread it in an even layer across the dish. Arrange the fish and prawns on the surface. Every part of the rice should be covered.

Technique

• Okra’s mucilage is the entire point here rather than something to reduce — it is what thickens the stew, so slice it finely and grate about a quarter of it to release still more. A thin soupou kandia has gone wrong. Stir regularly and scrape the base, since thick okra stew catches easily and a burnt patch ruins the pot.
• This contains fish, fermented fish and shellfish throughout, and the guedj or yet is invisible in the finished dish. Fish and shellfish allergies are separate and both can be severe, so name both when serving. Check flaked smoked fish for small sharp bones with your fingers.
• Guedj (fermented dried fish) and yet (fermented sea snail) are genuinely very strong and a little goes a very long way — start with less than you think you need, since too much makes the dish overpowering. Smoked fish gives some of the same depth but is milder and not the same thing; the atlas records that honestly.

Substitutions

• Frozen sliced okra works perfectly well and thickens just as well as fresh; it is genuinely used in Senegalese kitchens. Crab or other shellfish replace the prawns.
• Red palm oil has no real substitute here — the dish is built entirely around its earthy, slightly sweet richness, and it is entirely different from refined palm oil. Industrial palm oil is linked to deforestation, a genuine and documented concern, while West African red palm oil is largely smallholder produced under a different system; the atlas records both accurately without pretending they are the same or condemning a traditional food. Buy from a source you have reason to trust.

Variations

• Warm the palm oil gently rather than getting it smoking, since overheating loses its colour and flavour. The hundred and fifty millilitres is genuinely the amount this dish uses — the oil is a defining flavour rather than a cooking medium, so do not reduce it.
• Add the fresh fish only for the last fifteen minutes and the prawns for the last five, lowering them in gently and shaking the pot rather than stirring — stirring breaks the fish into small pieces, and they should stay whole in the bowl.
• Taste before adding salt, since the fermented fish and the stock cube have already salted it considerably. Serve it spread over plenty of plain rice in one wide shared dish, generously enough that the palm oil colours the rice deep orange.

History

Okra and red palm oil from the Casamance forests, thickened with fermented fish; the palm oil ties the dish to Senegal’s non-Wolof south.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soupou kandia?

Soupou kandia is a soup & stew from Senegal: okra and palm-oil stew with fish and seafood, over rice. Okra and red palm oil from the Casamance forests, thickened with fermented fish; the palm oil ties the dish to Senegal’s non-Wolof south.

How long does Soupou kandia take to make?

Soupou kandia 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 Soupou kandia?

Yes, within limits. Frozen sliced okra works perfectly well and thickens just as well as fresh; it is genuinely used in Senegalese kitchens. Crab or other shellfish replace the prawns. Red palm oil has no real substitute here — the dish is built entirely around its earthy, slightly sweet richness, and it is entirely different from refined palm oil. Industrial palm oil is linked to deforestation, a genuine and documented concern, while West African red palm oil is largely smallholder produced under a different system; the atlas records both accurately without pretending they are the same or condemning a traditional food. Buy from a source you have reason to trust.

What is the most important thing to get right in Soupou kandia?

Start with less than you think you need. Lift it out before it splits in the pot. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling it. Trim the tops and tails from the okra. Cut off the hard stem cap at the top. Do not cut into the pod itself yet. Trim the very tip if it is dry or hard. Then wash and dry them thoroughly.