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Tiébou Dienn

A Senegalese fish stew made with whole fish, a spicy cilantro-based paste, tomatoes, and served with rice.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 24 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Tiébou Dienn

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the paste and fish

  1. Prepare the Roff paste: combine cilantro, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, a Maggi cube, and oil; purée until smooth.

  2. Using a sharp knife, cut deep slits into the fish, being careful not to slice all the way through. Stuff the slits with the Roff paste.

  3. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet or pot, and brown the fish on both sides. Remove the browned fish and drain on absorbent paper.

Make the stew

  1. Drain the pot of all but a few tablespoons of oil. Add onions, Maggi cubes, tomato paste, and water. Let simmer.

  2. Chop all vegetables (calabaza, sweet potatoes, okra, chili peppers, goat peppers, green peppers) into large chunks, leaving okra whole. Add vegetables, Maggi, peppers, and dried codfish to the pot and cook for 30 minutes, or until tender.

  3. Add the fish for the last few minutes of cooking.

  4. When finished, remove all the vegetable and fish with a slotted spoon and place into a container to keep warm.

Cook the rice and serve

  1. Measure the liquid remaining in the pot. Either add water or remove excess liquid, as necessary, for the amount of rice to be cooked. (Use about two cups of water per cup of white rice.)

  2. Add rice, and let boil. The liquid from the residue of the fish, vegetables, and spices will add flavor and color to the rice.

  3. To serve, spread rice in large platters; distribute fish and vegetables evenly. Reserve some sauce from the pot to pour over the rice and vegetables. Garnish with lime wedges.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

953Calories
60 gProtein
30 gFat
111 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 19 ingredients. The other 5 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Snapper100g cooked128
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Okra1 cup (100g)33
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Scotchnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Stewnot in our table0
Codfishnot in our table0
Tamarindnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Tomato + ricetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomato paste
Adds concentrated color, body and a deep savory sweetness to the stew base.
Rice
Absorbs the flavorful cooking liquid, taking on color and seasoning from the stew.
Whole fish
Provides the main protein; browning and stuffing it builds flavor before simmering.
Onions
Break down during simmering to add sweetness and aromatic body to the sauce.
Dried codfish
Contributes concentrated savory, salty depth to the stew liquid.

The step that matters

Browning the fish before simmering. Browning creates Maillard flavor and a firm skin that helps the fish hold together, so it doesn't break apart in the stew.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, pepper, fish, snapper, onion, tomato, rice):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, pepper, fish, snapper, onion, tomato, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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