Ingredients
The fish
- 2whole fish
- capitaine, tilapia or similar
- about 800 g each
- scaled and gutted
- salt
The marinade
- 4garlic cloves, crushed
- 3cm ginger, grated
- 2hot chillies, chopped
- 1onion, grated
- juice of 2 limes
- 2stock cubes, crumbled
- 3 tablespoonsoil
- black pepper
The onion sauce
- 3onions, thinly sliced
- 3tomatoes, chopped
- 1chilli, chopped
- 3 tablespoonsoil
- juice of 1 lime
- salt
To grill
- charcoal
- a wire grill or fish cage
- wood embers if you have them
Directions
- Scale the fish from tail to head. Rinse all the loose scales away. Rinse the whole cavity thoroughly. It is bitter and should come out.
- Rinse all of it out completely. Cut down right along the backbone. Cut from the head to the tail. Stop before cutting right through. Cut slashes into the thick flesh. They also help it cook evenly.
- Cut down in towards the backbone. Mix the garlic, ginger and chilli. Add all the grated onion to them. Add the lime juice and stock cubes. Add the oil and the black pepper. Crumble them into the marinade.
- Taste before adding any extra salt. Rub the marinade all over the fish. Work it right into all the slashes. An hour is a good minimum here. Let it all burn down to embers. Wait until they glow under grey ash. That takes genuinely real patience. Oil the grill bars before the fish goes on. Get the grill genuinely hot first.
- Start it off flesh side downward. Cooking it takes about twenty minutes. Brush it with leftover marinade. Stop basting a few minutes before the end. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Add all the sliced onions to it.
- Cook them for about eight minutes. The onions should soften but stay sharp. Cook them only until they soften. Add the chopped tomatoes and chilli. Cook them for about five minutes. Season the whole pot with salt. Squeeze in the lime juice off the heat.
- Add the lime right at the very end. Judging the fish takes a fork check. Check there rather than at the edge. Any translucence means it needs longer. Lift the fish onto a plate or board. Spoon the onion sauce over it. Serve fresh lime wedges alongside. It does not keep at all well after.
Technique
- Braisé here means grilled over embers rather than braised, which is standard usage across the region — the braise being the embers themselves.
- Marinate for an hour or two but not much beyond three: the lime juice firms and whitens the flesh, and too long makes it mushy and opaque before it ever reaches the fire.
- Wait for the wood or charcoal to burn down to embers glowing under grey ash, since flames burn fish skin black. Oil the grill bars and get them genuinely hot, then do not move the fish at all at first — it sticks until a crust forms and releases itself when ready.
Substitutions
- Charcoal stands in for wood embers and gives a cleaner less smoky result.
- A hinged wire fish cage holds the split fish flat and lets you turn it in one movement; without one the fish tears when turned.
Variations
- Splitting the fish flat evens out the thickness so it all cooks at the same rate, where a whole round fish cooks on the outside before the centre; splitting down the back, down the belly or right in half are all done in Chad.
- Add the lime juice to the onion sauce off the heat, since cooking dulls it entirely.
- Fresh fish has clear bright eyes, red rather than brown gills and firm flesh; cloudy sunken eyes, brown gills or a sour smell mean discarding it.
History
The Chari and Logone rivers supply N’Djamena’s grills, where whole fish are split, salted and cooked over wood on roadside braziers.
Frequently asked questions
What is Poisson braisé?
Poisson braisé is a street food from Chad: chari River capitaine grilled over coals with chili, onion and lime. The Chari and Logone rivers supply N’Djamena’s grills, where whole fish are split, salted and cooked over wood on roadside braziers.
How long does Poisson braisé take to make?
Poisson braisé 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 Poisson braisé?
Yes, within limits. Charcoal stands in for wood embers and gives a cleaner less smoky result. A hinged wire fish cage holds the split fish flat and lets you turn it in one movement; without one the fish tears when turned.
What is the most important thing to get right in Poisson braisé?
Scale the fish from tail to head. Rinse all the loose scales away. Rinse the whole cavity thoroughly. It is bitter and should come out.
