Home » Dried Kariba bream stew

Dried Kariba bream stew

Written by Published on in Fish, Meats
4 Servings ~ 30 minutes
  • 2 medium sized dried bream
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • Half a punnet green beans, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3 tbsp Cream of mushroom soup powder
  • 100ml fresh milk
  • 1/2 medium lemon
  • 2 tsp basil (dried/fresh)
  • 6 tbsp pure vegetable oil

Fish is one of those “good-for-your-brain” foods 🙂 I however grew up not eating fish due to allergy reasons and only started eating fish about 4 years ago. This also means I never used to cook fish before then so I’m still learning  how to prepare this lovely  sea critter 🙂 Anyway, this dried Kariba bream is one of our proud Zimbabwean produce. It is very salty so it’s important to make sure that you soak the fish for quite a bit in order to get rid of all the salt that would have been used to preserve it.

Soak your Kariba bream in hot  (boiling) water for about 12- 24hrs! After the initial soaking, taste a small piece to check the saltiness. If it is still salty soak it in hot tap water this time for another couple of hours. After you’ve soaked it, de-scale the fish, remove the fins and give it a wash (just to get rid of any dirt that may have gone on it during the drying process). Now you’re ready to get started.

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Quick Instructions

  1.  Cut your fish (2 medium sized dried bream) into the size you prefer. Have your other ingredients ready. Heat oil in pan (3 tbsp) and fry your fish just until it begins to brown.
  2. Put the browned fish in a plate and drizzle the juice of half a lemon on it.  Heat oil in a good sized pot (3 tbsp).  Add garlic (3 cloves, crushed) and carrots (2 medium, chopped). Allow them to cook for about 2 minutes. Add the green beans (half punnet, chopped) and fry for another 2 minutes. Add onions (1 small,chopped) and allow them to cook for yet another 2 minutes. Finally, add the tomatoes (1 1/2 large, chopped) and give them 2 minutes as well.
  3. Mix the cream of mushroom powder (3 tbsp) with some milk (100ml).  Pour this mixture into the pot. Add the fish pieces and cover the pot. Allow to gently simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes, giving time for the flavours to sip into the fish. If the soup seems too thick for your liking you may add some water.
  4. Season with dried or fresh basil (2 tsp) and simmer for another 2 minutes.
  5. Your dried fish stew is ready.
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Pictorial Detailed Instructions

step-1
Cut your fish into the size you prefer (a). Have your other ingredients ready (b). Heat oil in pan and fry your fish (c) just until it begins to brown (d).

 

step-2
Put the browned fish in a plate and drizzle the juice of half a lemon on it (a). Heat oil in a good sized pot (b). Add garlic and carrots. Allow them to cook for about 2 minutes. Add the green beans and fry for another 2 minutes. Add onions and allow them to cook for yet another 2 minutes (c). Finally, add the tomatoes and give them 2 minutes as well (d).

 

step-3
Mix the cream of mushroom powder with some milk. Pour this mixture into the pot (a). Add the fish pieces and cover the pot (c). Allow to gently simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes, giving time for the flavours to sip into the fish (d). If the soup seems too thick for your liking you may add some water.

 

step-4
Season with dried or fresh basil and simmer for another 2 minutes.

 

step-5
Your dried fish stew is ready.

 

dried-kariba-bream-stew(s)
Let’s serve the meal…Yum-Yum!

 

Here I served the fish stew with some rice but you can also serve it with sadza (pap) or even mashed potatoes. I hope you’ll enjoy this… let me know how it goes when you try it out. It’s always great hearing from you. Even though I used bream here, you can also do the same thing for any other dried fish you might have. Sign-up here to receive recipe updates by email.