Benin | Main dish

Dakouin

Name: Dakouin
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Benin, West Africa
Ingredients: 800 g fresh tilapia or snapper, cut into large pieces; 4 medium tomatoes, chopped; 1 large onion, sliced; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 whole hot pepper; 2 tbsp palm oil or peanut oil; 2 cups gari, plus more if needed; 4 cups water or fish stock; salt and black pepper, to taste

Mono-region Beninese fish, tomato, and gari dish where cassava granules thicken a deeply seasoned fish broth.

Country

Benin

Region

West Africa

Time

65 min

Serves

Level

medium

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Use this overview to check the occasion, serving ideas, regional context, and cooking commitment before you begin.

When to cook it

Best for fresh-fish days, family lunch, and rainy-season comfort.. Plan on a medium cook and about 65 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Extra moyo, sliced onion, or a small pepper sauce.

Regional lane

Benin national table. A structured Benin dish in the AfroKitchen archive.

Chef watch-outs

Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
Cooking on heat that is too high once the dish should be steaming or simmering.

How you know it is ready

The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
The final texture should match the dish style before you plate it.

Recipe photos

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Dakouin recipe from Benin — Dakouin finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Dakouin

Extra moyo, sliced onion, or a small pepper sauce.

Best route from here

Benin national table

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Servings 5

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 5 servings

Main dish

Fish broth

800 g fresh tilapia or snapper, cut into large pieces 4 medium tomatoes, chopped 1 large onion, sliced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 whole hot pepper 2 tbsp palm oil or peanut oil

Cassava

2 cups gari, plus more if needed

Liquid

4 cups water or fish stock

Finishing

salt and black pepper, to taste

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Benin

4 steps 20 min prep 45 min cook 65 min total medium

Start the broth

Simmer tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, oil, and water until the tomatoes collapse.

broth base 18:00

Cook the fish

Add fish pieces and simmer gently until cooked through.

fish simmer 12:00

Fold in gari

Lower the heat and sprinkle in gari gradually, stirring until the broth thickens but stays moist.

Kitchen noteStop before it becomes stiff; it firms as it rests.

gari fold 08:00

Rest and serve

Cover for a few minutes, adjust salt, and serve hot with extra sauce.

rest 05:00

Some versions use tilapia, others use the day's catch, and the gari can be loose like couscous or thick like a soft mash.

Dakouin

What to know before you cook

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Step-by-step method

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