Mauritania | Main dish

Mauritanian Fish Rice

Name: Mauritanian Fish Rice
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Mauritania, West Africa
Ingredients: 1 kg firm ocean fish, cleaned, scored, and cut in large pieces; ½ cup parsley, chopped; 4 cloves garlic; 1 whole hot chile; 1 whole lemon, juiced; ⅓ cup peanut oil or vegetable oil; 2 large onions, chopped; ⅓ cup tomato paste; 2 whole tomatoes, chopped; 3 medium carrots, halved; 1 small cabbage, quartered; 1 medium eggplant, quartered; 6 whole okra; 1 whole sweet potato or cassava, cut in chunks; 3 cups broken rice or long-grain rice, rinsed; 6 cups water or fish stock; salt and black pepper, to taste

Mauritanian fish rice with tomato-rich broth, fried fish, cabbage, carrots, eggplant, okra, and rice cooked in the sauce.

Country

Mauritania

Region

West Africa

Time

110 min

Serves

Level

hard

Start cooking Explore Mauritania recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 8

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

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 8 servings

Main dish

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Knife & board

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

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

Back to Mauritania

6 steps 35 min prep 75 min cook (check method) 110 min total hard

Season fish

Pound parsley, garlic, chile, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Rub it into the scored fish and rest briefly.

Season fish 15:00

Brown fish

Heat oil in a wide pot and brown the fish on both sides. Remove it before it flakes apart.

Brown fish 10:00

Build broth

Cook onions, tomato paste, and chopped tomatoes until the paste darkens. Add water or fish stock.

Cook tomato base 10:00

Cook vegetables

Add carrots, cabbage, eggplant, okra, and sweet potato or cassava if using. Simmer until just tender, then lift out with the fish.

Simmer vegetables 25:00

Cook rice

Stir rinsed rice into the seasoned broth. Cover and cook low until the rice absorbs the sauce.

Cook rice 30:00

Assemble platter

Mound rice on a platter and arrange fish and vegetables over the top. Serve with chile paste or lemon.

Every household has small variations. Start here, then adjust seasoning, heat, and serving sides to your kitchen.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for Lunch gatherings. Plan on a hard cook. Allow about 110 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Chile paste, lime wedges, cucumber salad, or extra fried fish

Follow the collection

Mauritanian Fish Rice appears in 2 AfroKitchen collections. Start with Sunday Specials if you want more dishes in the same mood. Sunday Specials

Regional lane

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

Chef watch-outs

Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Mauritanian Fish Rice recipe from Mauritania — Mauritanian Fish Rice finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Mauritanian Fish Rice

Chile paste, lime wedges, cucumber salad, or extra fried fish

Best route from here

Mauritania national table

Collections to keep cooking

One-Pot Family Meals

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