Tripoli-Style Fish Sayadiyeh

Ingredients

• 1 kg medium-sized fish
• grated carrot
• 2 onions (dry)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp fish spice mix
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 3 cups water
• fried nuts for garnish
• salt to taste
• plenty of oil for frying
• For the fish stock:
• 1 small onion
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves
• Tahini sauce (Tartour):
• This Tripoli-style fish sayadiyeh recipe is shared by a friend and home cook on Shou Tabkhin Alyoum:
• أم طه الحموي
• Click the name to visit her page on our site.
• For more fish recipes from Um Taha try: Oven-Grilled Fish
• Baba ghanoush is also great with fish — recipe here: How to Make Baba Ghanoush

Method

1. Clean the fish well, then sprinkle it with salt and leave for about one hour to absorb the salt
2. Fry the fish in plenty of oil
3. Let it cool and remove the bones from the fish, then place the fish bones and tail in a pot with water and boil them with whole spices or aromatics. Let them simmer for about half an hour
4. Strain them and reserve the broth to use for cooking the rice
5. Chop the onion and fry it in a pan until it is nearly burnt, then add a cup of water and let them boil for about five minutes so the water takes on the color of the burnt onion. Strain and add that liquid to the fish broth
6. In a pot, heat a little oil then add the grated carrot and fry briefly; add three quarters of the fish we removed the bones from and sauté them together with the carrots
7. Add the rice that has been washed and soaked for about half an hour and well drained, and stir
8. Pour over them the fish water with the onion water and regular water so that together they equal three cups of liquid needed for the amount of rice
9. Bring to a boil, and when the water begins to dry up, lower the heat and leave them for about a quarter of an hour on low heat or until the rice is cooked
10. Transfer the Sayadiyah to a serving dish and arrange the remaining fish pieces on top
11. Garnish the Tripoli-style Sayadiyah with fried nuts, and serve tahini 'tartoor' sauce alongside it
12. Tahini sauce:
13. Add the lemon juice to them and stir. It's preferable to whisk by hand to prevent the tahini from clumping
14. Add salt, parsley, and crushed red pepper and stir
15. Umm Taha Al-Hamwi
16. For more fish preparations from Umm Taha, here is the link: Oven-Grilled Fish
17. Baba ghanoush is also served with fish; here is the link: How to Make Baba Ghanoush