Grilled capitaine

Ingredients

Fish

• 1whole capitaine, about 2 kg
• Nile perch
• or 2 whole firm fish
• juice of 4 limes
• 2 teaspoonssalt

Marinade

• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 4chillies, chopped
• 2onions, grated
• 4cm ginger, grated
• 2stock cubes
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• juice of 2 limes

Chilli sauce

• 6chillies
• 1onion
• 3garlic cloves
• 2tomatoes
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• juice of 1 lime
• salt

To serve

• gozo, cassava dough
• or chikwangue
• or plain rice
• sliced onion and tomato
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Scale the fish from tail to head. Gut it and rinse the cavity thoroughly. Pull out the dark line along the backbone. That line goes bitter if it is left in. Trim the fins with kitchen scissors. Pat the whole fish completely dry.
2. Rub the fish with lime juice and salt. Work it into the skin and cavity. Let it sit for a good ten minutes. Rinse it and pat it dry again. That takes off any river smell. Cut three or four deep slashes into each side.
3. Cut right down through to the bone. Those slashes let the heat into thick flesh. Mix the crushed garlic and chopped chillies. Add the grated onion and ginger. Crumble in the stock cubes as well. Add the black pepper, oil and lime juice. Work it all into a thick paste. It should be thick and spreadable. Add more grated onion if it is loose.
4. Rub the paste all over the fish. Work it into the cavity as well. Cover it and let it sit for an hour. Keep it cold while it marinates. Longer than two hours and the lime cooks it.
5. Blend the chillies with the onion and garlic. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Fry that paste in the oil for eight minutes. Season the whole sauce with salt. Squeeze in the lime juice off the heat. Let it cool down before serving.
6. Wait until the coals are covered in grey ash. Spread the embers into an even bed. Oil the grill bars well before the fish goes on. Fish skin sticks to a dry grill immediately.
7. Lay the fish on and leave it completely alone. Give it about twelve minutes on the first side. Turn it once only with a wide slice. Give it another twelve minutes. Baste it with leftover marinade as it cooks. Judging when it is done is straightforward. Set the whole fish out on a platter. Serve gozo or chikwangue alongside. Put the chilli sauce on the table.

Technique

• Nile perch is often called invasive, but that is true only where it was introduced: it devastated the cichlids of Lake Victoria after being put there in the mid twentieth century, while in the Congo basin, including the Ubangi at Bangui, it is a native fish.
• The fish must be scored to the bone, since an unscored large fish burns on the outside before the thick flesh cooks through.
• Gozo is the Central African cassava dough, stirred into boiling water and beaten stiff, and chikwangue is the fermented wrapped version; both are standard partners for grilled fish.

Substitutions

• Any large firm whole fish grills the same way.
• Plain rice stands in for gozo or chikwangue.

Variations

• Some cooks wrap the fish in leaves before grilling.
• The chilli sauce varies from mild to extremely hot.
• Similar grilled river fish is eaten right along the Congo basin.

History

Nile perch from the Ubangi River, grilled whole on the riverbank at Bangui and served with cassava and chili.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grilled capitaine?

Grilled capitaine is a main from Central African Republic: nile perch from the Ubangi grilled with chili and lime. Nile perch from the Ubangi River, grilled whole on the riverbank at Bangui and served with cassava and chili.

How long does Grilled capitaine take to make?

Grilled capitaine takes 30 minutes plus marinating of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Grilled capitaine?

Yes, within limits. Any large firm whole fish grills the same way. Plain rice stands in for gozo or chikwangue.

What is the most important thing to get right in Grilled capitaine?

Scale the fish from tail to head. Gut it and rinse the cavity thoroughly. Pull out the dark line along the backbone. That line goes bitter if it is left in. Trim the fins with kitchen scissors. Pat the whole fish completely dry.