Henakisoa sy amalona

Ingredients

Meat and fish

• 800 gpork belly, in chunks
• 600 gfreshwater eel, cleaned
• or 600 g firm oily fish
• 2 teaspoonssalt

The pot

• 2onions, chopped
• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 4cm ginger, grated
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonsoil
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper
• about 500 ml water

Greens

• 500 ganamalao or brede leaves
• or 500 g mustard greens
• or 500 g spinach and watercress

To serve

• plenty of plain rice
• sakay, chilli paste
• ranovola, the rice water drink

Directions

1. Rub it hard with coarse salt to strip that off. Rinse it thoroughly in several changes of water. Keep rubbing and rinsing until it is no longer slippery. Cut the eel into thick sections across the body. Aim for pieces about five centimetres long. Season them with salt and set them aside. Cut the pork belly into large even chunks.
2. Leave all the fat attached to the pieces. Season the pork with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot. Add the pork chunks in a single layer. Brown them well on every side. Give them about eight minutes in total. Add the chopped onions to the rendered fat.
3. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add the crushed garlic and the ginger. Cook them for a good two minutes more. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot. Cook them down for about six minutes.
4. Pour in the water to come partway up. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking the pork takes real time. Cover the pot and let it simmer slowly. Give it about one full hour of that. Add a splash of water if it goes dry. Lay the eel pieces into the pot. Do not stir the pot hard after this.
5. Cover it and simmer very gently. Give the eel about twenty minutes. Wash the greens in several changes of water. Strip them from any thick stems. Chop them roughly if the leaves are large.
6. Add them to the pot over the top. They collapse down within a few minutes. Oil should sit visibly at the surface. Taste it and adjust the salt to suit. It needs more salt than you might expect. Add more black pepper if it tastes flat. Serving it is done hot over rice.
7. Spoon plenty of plain rice onto plates. Ladle the stew over one side of it. Make sure everyone gets pork, eel and greens. Put sakay on the table for those who want heat. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Pork and eel together sounds unlikely to outsiders but is a long established highland pairing: the pork gives fat and a savoury base, the eel a rich oily fish flavour, and the greens cut through the fat of both.
• Freshwater eels belong to the genus Anguilla and populations worldwide have declined sharply, with the European eel now critically endangered and several African and Indian Ocean species also of concern, so buy from a source you can ask about.
• Eel is covered in a thick slippery mucus that must be rubbed off hard with coarse salt and rinsed away in several changes of water; that cleaning cannot be skipped.

Substitutions

• Any firm oily fish stands in for eel where it is unavailable or of concern.
• Mustard greens, spinach or watercress replace the Malagasy brede leaves.

Variations

• Some households add more greens and less meat.
• A version made with pork alone is cooked outside the eel season.
• Brede mafana and other greens are cooked the same way alongside.

History

A highland festive dish combining pork with eels from the rice paddies and rivers of the Merina plateau.

Frequently asked questions

What is Henakisoa sy amalona?

Henakisoa sy amalona is a main from Madagascar: pork belly stewed with freshwater eel and greens over rice. A highland festive dish combining pork with eels from the rice paddies and rivers of the Merina plateau.

How long does Henakisoa sy amalona take to make?

Henakisoa sy amalona takes 40 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Henakisoa sy amalona?

Yes, within limits. Any firm oily fish stands in for eel where it is unavailable or of concern. Mustard greens, spinach or watercress replace the Malagasy brede leaves.

What is the most important thing to get right in Henakisoa sy amalona?

Pour in the water to come partway up. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking the pork takes real time. Cover the pot and let it simmer slowly. Give it about one full hour of that. Add a splash of water if it goes dry. Lay the eel pieces into the pot. Do not stir the pot hard after this.