Yusaf poses with the 4,5 kg Red Snapper which had been caught earlier that day
You can see how red the meat is, and what gives it the name "Red Snapper"The beach house we stayed at in Pangani has a wonderful resident housekeeper/cook called Neema. Neema is a complete star (she missed Justin this time as there was no space for him in the car - he usually comes along with us and helps her out !) and a fantastic cook.
Whenever we are at the coast, I let Neema do all the cooking for me. Quite honestly, because it is just so darn hot and humid there is no way I can (or would even want to) stand over a hot stove on top of that with the sweat dripping – ewwwww ! Neema, who is completely used to the humid coastal weather, handles the cooking with a smile and always looking as fresh as a daisy, so I let her get on with it !
I usually just give different meat to Neema each day and ask her to cook it in Tanzanian Coastal (Swahili) style, because I love eating local food cooked by experienced local cooks and always learn a lot through the cooking methods and spices they use.
My husband & father did not have much luck on the fishing front this time, so on our last day there I sent Yusaf, the gardener, down to the local village fish market to buy us something for supper – he came back with this lovely Red Snapper, which weighed in at 4,5 kg’s. (And because I know that there are some avid fishermen reading my blog – hello all the way over there in Manchester, UK ! – I’ll add a fishing ‘news flash’ here to tell you that the fish being caught off the Tanga/Pangani coastline at this time of year are mainly Red Snapper and Kingfish, although everyone is hoping for tuna !) The Red Snapper was 4000/= Tanzanian Shillings a kilogram, which is around U$3 and prawns were selling at 20 000/= per kilogram, which is around U$15, for anyone who may be interested. (I have no clue what these items sell for in other parts of the world to use as a comparison. Anyone ?)
Anyway, I wanted to share with you the fantastic way which Neema prepared and cooked the Red Snapper for us on our last night at the beach house, cooked in one of the traditional Tanzanian coastal ways, you just can’t beat it -:
Red Snapper - Tanzanian Coastal Style
800 gm Red Snapper (or other fish) fillet, cut into chunks
1 generous tbsp fresh Ginger, grated
1 generous tbsp Fish Masala* (ground powdered mix)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
Flour for dusting
Oil for frying
Mix the fresh Ginger, Fish Masala, Salt and Pepper together in a bowl & place the fish chunks into this. Cover, & allow to marinade for around 4 hours in the fridge.
Heat some oil in a pan and toss the chunks of fish in a little flour before shallow frying them for a few minutes until tender & lightly browned (this should take around 5 minutes).
Serve with lemon wedges on a bed of rice, with a nice side salad and a good glass of wine !
*We can buy different spiced Masala mixes here like Pilau Masala, Fish Masala, Meat Masala etc. These are basically a combination of dried, ground spices like cumin, ginger, coriander etc blended together although each blend is slightly different. You may be able to find a ‘general’ type of Masala in your local supermarket, in which case I’m sure that you could use it as a substitute.
Whenever we are at the coast, I let Neema do all the cooking for me. Quite honestly, because it is just so darn hot and humid there is no way I can (or would even want to) stand over a hot stove on top of that with the sweat dripping – ewwwww ! Neema, who is completely used to the humid coastal weather, handles the cooking with a smile and always looking as fresh as a daisy, so I let her get on with it !
I usually just give different meat to Neema each day and ask her to cook it in Tanzanian Coastal (Swahili) style, because I love eating local food cooked by experienced local cooks and always learn a lot through the cooking methods and spices they use.
My husband & father did not have much luck on the fishing front this time, so on our last day there I sent Yusaf, the gardener, down to the local village fish market to buy us something for supper – he came back with this lovely Red Snapper, which weighed in at 4,5 kg’s. (And because I know that there are some avid fishermen reading my blog – hello all the way over there in Manchester, UK ! – I’ll add a fishing ‘news flash’ here to tell you that the fish being caught off the Tanga/Pangani coastline at this time of year are mainly Red Snapper and Kingfish, although everyone is hoping for tuna !) The Red Snapper was 4000/= Tanzanian Shillings a kilogram, which is around U$3 and prawns were selling at 20 000/= per kilogram, which is around U$15, for anyone who may be interested. (I have no clue what these items sell for in other parts of the world to use as a comparison. Anyone ?)
Anyway, I wanted to share with you the fantastic way which Neema prepared and cooked the Red Snapper for us on our last night at the beach house, cooked in one of the traditional Tanzanian coastal ways, you just can’t beat it -:
Red Snapper - Tanzanian Coastal Style
800 gm Red Snapper (or other fish) fillet, cut into chunks
1 generous tbsp fresh Ginger, grated
1 generous tbsp Fish Masala* (ground powdered mix)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
Flour for dusting
Oil for frying
Mix the fresh Ginger, Fish Masala, Salt and Pepper together in a bowl & place the fish chunks into this. Cover, & allow to marinade for around 4 hours in the fridge.
Heat some oil in a pan and toss the chunks of fish in a little flour before shallow frying them for a few minutes until tender & lightly browned (this should take around 5 minutes).
Serve with lemon wedges on a bed of rice, with a nice side salad and a good glass of wine !
*We can buy different spiced Masala mixes here like Pilau Masala, Fish Masala, Meat Masala etc. These are basically a combination of dried, ground spices like cumin, ginger, coriander etc blended together although each blend is slightly different. You may be able to find a ‘general’ type of Masala in your local supermarket, in which case I’m sure that you could use it as a substitute.
