King Mackerel cooked in a zesty sauce bursting with lots of flavor from traditional spices indigenous to Cameroon and other West African countries. First off, these ingredients are readily available, and you can enjoy this hearty one pot dish too.
What we love the most about this dish is the simplicity and minimal cleanup involved. Back then, my mother will prepare all the ingredients and then carefully wrap the fish in plantain leaves. She’ll then place this on hot coal/ ashes. When it was all done, the steam and aroma, when she unwrapped the sometimes-charred plantain leaves lured us to the kitchen . Typically, we serve this with plantains, cocoyams , cassava or rice. It still is one of my favorite dishes she makes whenever she visits.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE
Let’s touch on some of the traditional spices we are using to make the sauce and where you can find them. Years ago, when I moved to the US, the easiest way to obtain these ingredients was to have someone bring it from Cameroon. That is definitely not the case today. These ingredients are now readily available, and you can get them with just a click, or a quick drive depending on where you live.
- King Mackerel Steaks: You can find this at your local seafood market. They are about an inch thick. The bone prevents the fish from breaking apart when cooked.
- Njangsang seeds (Akpi). This is what thickens our sauce and gives it that rich flavor. You can call or visit any local West African grocery store to purchase or buy online. Here is where you can find some online
- Pebbe or African Nutmeg. Another traditional spice that can be purchased online
- Country Onion: Most will say it has a very strong roasted garlic flavor. This unique spice is very essential for the sauce. Buy it ground. Unless you have a traditional grinding stone, this is not good for any blender blades.
PREPARING THE SPICE BLEND
Start by toasting the njangsang, pebbe and white pepper in a pan. You can also soak the njangsang seeds in warm water to soften them before grinding. Then, transfer all ingredients into a blender, add some water and blend until smooth. Note not to add whole country onion into your blender. It is too hard and will damage your blades. Get an actual spice blender if you only have whole country onion.
COOKING THE KING MACKEREL STEAKS
Start by seasoning your steaks with some salt. Then pour the spice blend over the fish, giving the sauce pot a gentle shake to completely cover the fish, then add some water and bring it to a simmer. If you have little ones at home who are not comfortable with the heat from the habanero, you can choose to add a whole habanero now (omit from spice blend). Remove when soft enough so it does not split open and spice up the entire sauce.
Cook for 20 minutes until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Finally, fry up some onions in a little bit of oil and pour into sauce pot. Gently shake the pot , simmer for another 3-5 minutes and you’re done! You’ll love this with some boiled green plantains, cocoyams, rice or whatever you’ll like to pair it with. Sometimes we enjoy it with fried ripe plantains, so you can replace this pepper sauce with our king mackerel in njangsang sauce
KING MACKEREL IN NJANGSANG SAUCE
Equipment
- blender
- Small to medium Sauce pot
Ingredients
- 2 King mackerel steaks ( about 1 inch thick ~ 1 pound)
- 1/8 cup Njangsang seeds
- 1/2 tsp country onion (or 1 whole country onion)
- 1 small pebbe
- 1/8 tsp white peppercorn
- 1/2 small yellow onion (1/2 to be blended, 1/2 sliced and fried with oil)
- 2 sprigs of parsley
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/4 inch chunk of ginger
- 1 medium Roma tomato
- 1 habanero pepper
- 1 maggi cube (optional)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Season Mackerel steaks with salt / maggi and place into saucepan.
- Toast njangsang seeds, white pepper, pebbe in a fry pan for about 3 minutes. Add into a blender together with 1/2 of the onion, tomato, parsley, ginger , garlic, onion and habanero pepper. Blend with 1 cup of water until smooth.
- Pour spice blend over fish. Add a pinch or two of salt. Rinse blender cup with 1/4 cup of water and pour into sauce pot.
- Cover and bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until fish can be easily flaked off the bone. Carefully shake or move fish around a few times while cooking to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season sauce to taste if necessary
- Then, heat about 1/4 cup of avocado oil (or canola oil /vegetable oil) and fry sliced onion until slightly brown. Pour entire content into sauce pot with fish and simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes and you're done.
- Serve with boiled ripe plantains, cocoyams, cassava or rice.
Notes
- You can use any fish for this recipe but a white fish works best. So Catfish, tilapia, flounder are a few other options. Using steaks instead of fillets will help keep your fish together while it cooks.
- I will not recommend using olive oil at the final step as this will slightly change the flavor profile. You want a very neutral oil.
- Add sauce consistency by using more or less water. If cooking in plantain leaves, you’ll want a thicker sauce so it does not leak.
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