So, I woke up today and it had been raining; thus it had been so cold. I wanted to make some fish pepper soup, but my friend did not bring the fish as planned so I opted for something spicy but with comfort. I remember growing up in Nigeria and as a child, I did see a lot of street food; fried fish being one of them. Each time, my friends and I would sneak out and buy some fish :))…(please don’t tell my mother, she will not like it at all because we were not allowed to eat anything apart from home made food that mommy cooked :)) ). My friends and I would eat the fish with bread and a cold bottle of coke :)) (for those calling me butter hehehe). If you lived or live in Nigeria, you know what it means to drink a cold bottle of coke in the Nigerian heat Anyway, I decided to make two types of Nigerian street foods today and this was one of it and I actually gave it an itsy bitsy make over. I had mine with some bean pudding (moin moin). You may have yours with some soaked garri, french fries, fried yam and stew or any side that suits you. Recipe for my fish stew may be found here www.nigerianlazychef.com/2015/03/my-sunday-fish-stew-and-grilled-pole-beans/
I have to say that if you are on #teamfitfam then this fried fish is not for you :)) But it is a comforting option for your cheat days
This is a really easy recipe…What a way to bring in the Spring 🙂
Without further ado, here is my version of the Nigerian fried fish
- 2 cups of oil for frying
- 4 small sized indian mackerel(you may use any type of fish you wish)(I had mackerel redily available). You may even use fish fillets and reduce the oil for frying
- 1 cayenne pepper or finger chili
- 1habanero pepper
- half of a small onion
- 1clove of garlic(optional)
- 1inch of fresh ginger
- salt for seasoning
- 1tsp of any oil
- a dash of siracha sauce(optional)
- 1small onion sliced into rings
- 1small green cayenne pepper or finger chili
- 1small red cayenne pepper of finger chili
- 2stalks of scallions
- 1-1½ tsp of distilled white vinegar
- a pinch of salt
- ½-1cup of all purpose flour
- 1tbsp of baking powder(this helps in infusing air into the batter for a better crust). If using beer as your liquid; then there is no need for any rising agent
- 1cup of beer or water(I used water, it's lent lol)
- ½tsp of garlic powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1tbsp of cayenne or chili powder(add more for more heat if desired)
- ½tsp of paprika
- ½tsp of black pepper
- wash and season the fish with salt only(you may score the sides of the fish)
- pack a small blender full with the fresh ingredients along with the oil and blend into a rough paste. Pour the paste into the fish. Make sure you get the paste into the fish as much as possible then cover and let it marinade for an hour to 24hours
- slice and chop all the vegetables and peppers, season with a pinch of salt and vinegar. Toss, cover and let it sit in the refrigerator until the fish is ready
- mix all the ingredients for the batter and stir with a whisk or with a spoon; then dip the fish into it and fry in the hot oil. (You may use the batter for some shrimp too)
- Let fish fry until thoroughly golden brown and crispy. let it drain excess oil into a bowl or plate lined with paper towel.
- garnish with the topping mix and serve immediately. The juices from the mix will soak into the fish and give it sort of a pickled sweet and spicy taste. I served mine with mini moin moin(bean pudding) cups
Was off duty today and was expecting a visitor ( an excu chef) not knowing wat to prepare for them,saw your spicy fried fish and decided to marry it with jollof rice for him but I used less pepper since he is not a nigeria and he loved it
Yay you! Chinasa. I really appreciate your feed back. I am glad your guest enjoyed it. Thank you and GOD Bless
thanks for this awesome recipe 🙂 was craving some fish today, but only had white fish and sometimes find it to be tasteless. this batter and marinade worked so well with it (it was bream fish). i’m looking forward to making some more of your recipes nma!
warmest
Thank you 🙂