Hraimi — fish steaks in a spicy red sauce
The Friday-night fish of Jewish homes in Tunisia and Tripoli: steaks poached in a sauce of garlic, tomato purée, caraway and harissa, with potatoes to soak up the sauce.
Ingredients for two
| 500 g | Grouper steaks (lokus) 2 thick steaks, 250 g each; sea bream can also be used |
| 50 g | Extra virgin olive oil 5 tbsp |
| 20 g | Garlic 4 cloves |
| 60 g | Double-concentrated tomato purée 3 tbsp |
| 8 g | Sweet paprika 1 tbsp |
| 3 g | Ground caraway 1 tsp |
| 2 g | Ground cumin 1/2 heaped tsp |
| 25 g | Harissa 1 heaped tbsp; use 15 g for mild heat |
| 5 g | Fine salt 1 tsp |
| 350 g | Water hot |
| 300 g | Potatoes 2 medium potatoes |
| 60 g | Lemon juice of half a lemon |
| 10 g | Fresh coriander a few sprigs (optional) |
| 160 g | Bread (baguette or country loaf) for mopping up the sauce |
Method
- Take the fish out of the fridge, pat dry with kitchen paper and lightly salt both sides, using 1 g of the 5 g salt. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 cm slices. Peel the garlic, remove the central shoots and crush in a garlic press.
- Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a wide, 28 cm sauté pan with a lid. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute until pale golden: it should flavour the oil without browning.
- Add the tomato purée, paprika, caraway, cumin and harissa. Stir over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes until the paste darkens, turns glossy and smells fragrant. This gives hraimi its depth of flavour, so do not skip this step.
- Pour in the hot water and add the remaining salt and the potato slices in a single layer. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 12 minutes: a knife tip should slide into the potatoes and the sauce should have reduced by a third and turned deep red.
- Lay the fish steaks in the sauce, skin-side down, and spoon sauce over them. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 8–10 minutes, depending on thickness, without turning. The flesh should turn opaque and come away from the central bone when pressed.
- Turn off the heat, drizzle with the lemon juice, scatter over the chopped coriander and rest, covered, for 3 minutes. Serve in deep plates, with a fish steak and half the potatoes each, generously coated in sauce, and bread for mopping it up.
Fish-free
- Grouper steaks (lokus) → Minced chicken, freshly minced by the butcher 300 g
- add Eggs 55 g (1 egg)
- add Breadcrumbs 20 g (2 tbsp)
- During step 4, mix the minced chicken with the egg, breadcrumbs, 2 g salt and a pinch of cumin. With damp hands, shape into 8 walnut-sized meatballs.
- Before step 5, transfer one-third of the sauce and potatoes to a small saucepan: fish and meat must never cook in the same sauce. Cover and poach the meatballs over a low heat for 12 minutes, turning halfway through, while the fish cooks in the sauté pan.
- Finish both pans in the same way, with lemon juice, coriander and a 3-minute rest.
Chicken meatballs in hraimi sauce are a Tunisian classic in their own right, rather than a makeshift substitute.
Lighter version
- Extra virgin olive oil : 25 g
- Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 80 g
Halve the oil and bread: the sauce stays the same, with less bread for mopping it up.
On your plate
Recipe
833 kcal · protein 59 g · carbs 74 g · fat 30 g
Quantities per person
- 250 g Grouper steaks (lokus)
- 25 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 10 g Garlic
- 30 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 4 g Sweet paprika
- 1.5 g Ground caraway
- 1 g Ground cumin
- 12.5 g Harissa
- 2.5 g Fine salt
- 175 g Water
- 150 g Potatoes
- 30 g Lemon
- 5 g Fresh coriander
- 80 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
Fish-free version
872 kcal · protein 47 g · carbs 81 g · fat 37 g
Quantities per person
- 25 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 10 g Garlic
- 30 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 4 g Sweet paprika
- 1.5 g Ground caraway
- 1 g Ground cumin
- 12.5 g Harissa
- 2.5 g Fine salt
- 175 g Water
- 150 g Potatoes
- 30 g Lemon
- 5 g Fresh coriander
- 80 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
- 150 g Minced chicken, freshly minced by the butcher
- 27.5 g Eggs
- 10 g Breadcrumbs
Cooking tips
Even better warm or cold the next day: cook an extra fish steak for Shabbat lunch. Sea bream needs only 8 minutes of cooking. If the sauce reduces too quickly in step 4, add 50 g hot water.
A Friday-night dish of the Jewish communities of Tunisia and Tripolitania, in a family version with potatoes cooked in the sauce.
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