Fish Stew

The other day, I went to a grocery store called ‘Trader Joe’. It was a surprise to me how polite every employee there  was. It actually got to a point where I was somewhat uncomfortable with everyone greeting me (My Nigerian radar was on, people only greet you excessively when they want something). I came to realize that they had obviously been trained to greet customers and asked if they needed help if they looked lost. As it was my first time in the store, I looked lost a lot, hence the extra attention I received.

I picked up a few items and headed for the check out counter. There was an older gentleman in front of me on the line. I noticed the checkout attendant walked up to the man and picked up his basket as they proceeded to the counter. I thought it was very thoughtful of the employee to help the older man. When it was my turn, another till attendant  came to meet me from behind the counter, she greeted me nicely, took my basket from me and proceeded to walk along with me to the till. Wow!!! I had never experienced anything like it. The courtesy wasn’t just for the elderly, it was for everyone. Big, small, old and young.

I actually felt very special. What made it that bit extra special was the fact that I knew the till attendant wasn’t expecting any reward in return. More often than not, when one receives this kind of treatment in Nigeria, it is because a reward is being anticipated. Hopefully, we would get to a point where things don’t have to be like that.

Back to my thanksgiving menu. This is one Nigerian dish I am very excited to have for Thanksgiving. It is one of the Engineer’s favorite things. He loves a thick fresh fish stew with loads of onions cut into it.

Fish stew is so easy to make. Unlike meat or chicken stew were the meat has to be pre-boiled, this one goes directly into the stew. Simply soak the fish in some salt water to make it tasty. This is a trick I learnt from my sister in law.

Ok, let’s start cooking.

Blend your tomatoes, peppers and onions (I added more onions than is in the above picture). I like to add a bit of ginger and garlic while blending.

Heat oil and add onions to infuse some flavor into the oil. Then add the blended peppers. When I made this stew, I bought some chili peppers I wasn’t quite familiar with. Let me just say they were HOT, HOT, HOT! I didn’t have any extra tomatoes in the house but luckily for me, I had some tomato paste so I added it to the pot.

Heat for about 20 minutes or until peppers are cooked. Add the fish and then season. I like to season after I have added the fish because the fish would add some salt and you don’t want salty stew!

Enjoy!

 I doubt there is any advise I can give you guys for this dish On the contrary, If you have any tips for me to take this dish up a notch, I would be happy if you could share it with me.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.