SENEGAL: Senegalese National Fish on Rice (Ceebu Jën or Thieboudienne)

Ceebu Jën, or Thieboudienne as its often written in Romance languages, is the national dish of Senegal. It features whole — or almost whole — vegetables and fish steaks or whole fish on a jollof-type rice. I cut the vegetables into large dice to enable them to cook faster. While this allowed me to prepare the meal in less than 45 minutes per the OWW premise, it made the dish more labor intensive and less of a showstopper than the OG version. That being noted, Ceebu Jën is scrumptious... definitely worth making again! The directions below are for the more typical preparation, one I plan to undertake next time I have people for dinner. It was that good!

Senegalese National Fish on Rice (Ceebu Jën or Thieboudienne)

1½ cups jasmine rice or broken rice

1 cup parsley leaves

4 cloves of garlic

5 Scotch bonnet/ habanero pepper

1 cube fish or chicken bouillon

2 lbs firm white fish steaks, such as snapper, halibut, or grouper (either 2 small or 1 large piece works)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

½ cup tomato paste

4 cups shrimp or seafood stock

1 large (ideally long and thin) sweet potato or yam

2 mini eggplants

4 medium carrots

1/2 a head of green cabbage

1 lime

salt and pepper

Do first two steps 4-12 hours ahead of dinner prep, if possible.

1. Place rice in a bowl and cover with water. Cover and set in a cool, dark spot on counter. (NOTE: Soaking the rice makes it softer and stickier than without a soak, and reduces cooking time a tad.)

2. Place parsley, 2 cloves garlic, 2 peppers, and bouillon cube, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 teaspoon table salt in a mini food processor. Pulse into chopped finely and combined. Rub on both sides of the fish steaks and place in fridge, covered, until ready to use. Add remaining 2 cloves garlic and 2 peppers to processor and pulse until chopped finely and combined. Remove to a small, covered container and place in fridge until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 350° F. When it reaches temperature, place a sheet of parchment paper on a casserole dish large enough to hold the fish steak(s) or half-sheet pan and place the fish on the sheet, topping with any marinade that has fallen off. Place in over and set timer for 20 minutes. When timer rings, cut into fish to see if it's opaque and cooked throughout. If not, return to oven for another 5-10 minutes. (You want it to be just cooked through, as it gets 4 more minutes of cooking time in step 10.) When done, remove to a plate and do NOT cover.

4. While fish is roasting, place oil in a Dutch oven or large sauté pan with a lid and heat over medium heat. Slice onion and add to hot oil, stirring until translucent, about 5 minutes.

5. Add reserved garlic-and-pepper mix and tomato paste. Sauté, stirring frequently, until paste turns slightly rusty in color, about 5 minutes.

6. Add shrimp or seafood stock and 1 teaspoon of table salt and turn heat to high. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

7. While stock comes to a boil, prep the vegetables. Peel the carrots and cut them in half crosswise (hamburger style, not hot dog style, for the teachers out there). Peel the potato and cut into quarters. Remove top from both eggplants and cut lengthwise (hot dog style, not hamburger style). Cut cabbage into quarters.

8. When stock comes to a boil, add all vegetable pieces into it. After mixture reboils, lower it to a simmer.

9. As the vegetables become tender and cooked through, use a Chinese spider or slotted spoon to remove them to a side plate and cover with foil to keep warm. It should take about 15 minutes for the eggplant and cabbage, and about 25 for the potatoes and carrots.

10. When all vegetables have been removed, gently add the roasted fish to the stock, being careful to keep as much marinade on as possible. Heat on one side for 2 minutes, then use a spatula to flip over and cook on other side for 2 minutes. Add to the plate with the vegetables and cover with foil.

11. Drain the soaking rice and add to the Dutch oven or sauté pan. Add enough water to just cover the rice. Piece the remaining pepper with a fork and drop into the pot as well. Bring to a boil, then place a lid on the pot and reduce to the lowest heat. Cook 15 minutes and check for doneness. Rice should be cooked through, but ever-so-slightly al dente, like risotto.

12. Spread rice on serving platter and top with fish, then arrange the vegetables around the fish, including the pepper. Cut the lime into quarters and add to platter. Those who want more tang can squeeze their lime wedges on their servings, and those who want more heat can squeeze the pierced pepper.

#senegal #ceebujen #jollof #worldcuisine

FUN FACTS:

• Senegal’s most popular sport is laamb (wrestling), not soccer as in many African countries.

• The most western point of continental Africa is the capital of Senegal.

• Lac Retba in Senegal is is pink! The lake contains bacteria that give off a pink color when absorbing sunlight.