A Taste of Africa/Dorinda Hafner 2004

Spinach with Salted Fish
Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Calories Saturated Fat Fat Sodium Carbohydrates Protein Cholesterol
4 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A


INGREDIENTS:
1 medium dried salted fish 4 to 8 whole baby plantains, peeled 8 slices taro root, peeled and diced
8 slices yam (or 8 slices potato), peeled and diced 2 bunches fresh spinach or swiss chard, chopped 2 small green onions, minced
4 tomatoes, finely diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoons turmeric



1 Soak the fish overnight to remove most of the salt. Rinse, clean, and bone the fish. Shred it into small pieces and set aside.
2 Boil the plantains, taro root, and yam slices in salted water until tender. Place the uncooked spinach inside a fine-mesh sieve on to of the boiling vegetables to steam very lightly for 5 to 7 minutes.
3 In Ghana we traditionally mash the spinach, onions, tomatoes, and half the fish in an aportoryiwa (pronounced apor-tor-ye-wa), a flat-ended wooden masher. In a modern kitchen, however, I suggest that you use an electric blender or food processor to blend these ingredients together.
4 Heat the oil in a small skillet, add the garlic, and lightly fry until it begins to brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the turmeric. (Traditionally, palm oil is used in this recipe, but vegetable oil mixed with turmeric makes a wonderful substitute.)
5 Place the blended spinach mix in 4 small bowls. Top each portion with 2 teaspoons of the turmeric-garlic-oil mix, and sprinkle with some of the leftover fish.
6 Decorate each bowl with the boiled vegetables and serve.

Back