Konkoé

Ingredients

Fish

• 600 gsmoked konkoé (smoked catfish), broken into large pieces
• Hot water, for softening
• Juice of 2 limes, for washing the fish

Soup base

• 2onions (about 250 g), finely chopped
• 1whole head of garlic (about 12 cloves), crushed
• 3tomatoes (about 300 g), chopped
• 2 tbsptomato purée
• 2scotch bonnet peppers, 1 chopped and 1 whole
• 30 gfresh ginger, grated
• 60 mlred palm oil or groundnut oil
• 1.2 litreswater
• 2stock cubes
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspblack pepper
• Salt

To finish

• Juice of 2 more limes
• 1 bunchof parsley or coriander, chopped
• 2spring onions, sliced

To serve

• Steamed white rice, or bread

Directions

1. Pour hot water over the smoked catfish and leave it 10 minutes to soften, then rub the pieces with lime juice and rinse. This removes the ash and any bitter smoke residue.
2. Pick the fish over carefully by hand, taking out the spine and the large bones but keeping the pieces generous. Catfish flesh falls apart if you fuss with it.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and soften the onion for 8 minutes until translucent and sweet.
4. Add the crushed garlic and ginger, more garlic than seems reasonable, and fry 3 minutes until the raw edge has gone. Garlic is the defining flavour here, not a background note.
5. Stir in the tomato purée and fry 2 minutes until it darkens, then add the chopped tomatoes and chopped pepper and cook 10 minutes until thick and the oil rises.
6. Pour in the water, add the stock cubes, bay leaf and black pepper and bring to a simmer.
7. Slide in the fish pieces and the whole scotch bonnet, and simmer very gently, uncovered, for 25–30 minutes. Do not stir; move the pot instead, or the fish will shred.
8. The soup is ready when it has reduced by about a quarter, tastes deeply smoky and the surface carries an orange sheen of oil.
9. Lift out the whole pepper, squeeze in the lime juice off the heat, taste for salt, and scatter with parsley and spring onion.
10. Serve very hot in bowls with plain steamed rice, or with bread for dipping, and extra lime and chilli on the table.

Technique

• Konkoé is smoked catfish, dried hard over a wood fire so it keeps for weeks without refrigeration; the smoke is the flavour of the dish, not the fresh fish.
• The lime does two jobs: it washes the smoke residue at the start and lifts the whole soup at the end. Add the second lot off the heat or it turns bitter.
• This is a garlic soup as much as a fish soup. A whole head for four people is normal in Conakry.
• Smoked fish is often dusty or gritty. Rinse it well and pick out the bones before it goes in the pot, since you cannot do it afterwards.

Substitutions

• No smoked catfish: any firm smoked fish such as smoked mackerel or smoked haddock works, added later since it needs less cooking; the flavour is milder and less earthy.
• No palm oil: groundnut oil is used in many Guinean kitchens and gives a lighter, less russet soup.

Variations

• Soupe de konkoé, the thin garlicky version served with rice.
• Konkoé cooked into sauce feuille or sauce d’arachide as the smoked protein.
• Konkoé with okra, thickened into a slippery stew.

History

Konkoe is smoked catfish from the coastal estuaries; the sharp garlic and pepper soup is a Susu speciality of Conakry and the Boke coast.

Frequently asked questions

What is Konkoé?

Konkoé is a soup & stew from Guinea: smoked catfish soup sharp with garlic, pepper and lime. Konkoe is smoked catfish from the coastal estuaries; the sharp garlic and pepper soup is a Susu speciality of Conakry and the Boke coast.

How long does Konkoé take to make?

Konkoé takes 25 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Konkoé?

Yes, within limits. No smoked catfish: any firm smoked fish such as smoked mackerel or smoked haddock works, added later since it needs less cooking; the flavour is milder and less earthy. No palm oil: groundnut oil is used in many Guinean kitchens and gives a lighter, less russet soup.

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

Slide in the fish pieces and the whole scotch bonnet, and simmer very gently, uncovered, for 25–30 minutes. Do not stir; move the pot instead, or the fish will shred.