Samke Harra - Middle Eastern Spicy Fish

[FoodMan]

Thanks again Elie for another successful dish!

Did it yesterday, as a "pan-mid-east" project, along with fresh Tahina I got from Egypt, El Rashidi El Mizan.

Came out perfect with local fish (kind of) Sea Bass.

Boaziko

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You are more than welcome. Did you do a whole fish or fillets?

Elie

[Smithy]

Our leftovers from my first attempt sat around in the refrigerator for at least a week. I remembered being disappointed in the fish itself, although not the sauce. My husband had claimed to like at all, with no disappointment, but somehow he also never quite got to those leftovers. Finally I decided that the last filet would have to be sacrificed to the garbage, for health considerations. I opened the container. I took a sniff. It smelled good. It looked okay - no visible growth. I took a taste of the sauce. Tasted darned good. I took a small spoonful of the fish. Hmm...nothing off about that!

I took the leftovers to work that day and ate them, rewarmed, for lunch. If anything it was better than the original. The fish tasted wonderful - none of that "old" flavor I'd noted before, and plenty of lovely spice.

I am DEFINITELY going to make this again. I may even try marinading the fish in the sauce for a day first, just to give it all a chance to meld!

[Smithy]

Our leftovers from my first attempt sat around in the refrigerator for at least a week. I remembered being disappointed in the fish itself, although not the sauce. My husband had claimed to like it all, with no disappointment, but somehow he never quite got to those leftovers. Finally I decided that the last filet would have to be sacrificed to the garbage, for health considerations. I hate throwing food away, but it seemed inevitable. I opened the container. I took a sniff. It smelled good. Nothing appeared to be growing. I took a taste of the sauce. Tasted darned good. I took a small spoonful of the fish. Hmm...nothing off about that!

I took the leftovers to work that day and ate them, rewarmed, for lunch. If anything it was better than the original. The fish tasted wonderful - none of that "old" flavor I'd noted before, and plenty of lovely spice.

I am DEFINITELY going to make this again. I may even try marinading the fish in the sauce for a day first, just to give it all a chance to meld!

[Smithy]

Our leftovers from my first attempt sat around in the refrigerator for at least a week. I remembered being disappointed in the fish itself, although not the sauce. My husband had claimed to like it all, with no disappointment, but somehow he never quite got to those leftovers. Finally I decided that the last filet would have to be sacrificed to the garbage, for health considerations. I hate throwing food away, but it seemed inevitable. I opened the container. I took a sniff. It smelled good. Nothing appeared to be growing. I took a taste of the sauce. Tasted darned good. I took a small spoonful of the fish. Hmm...nothing off about that!

I took the leftovers to work that day and ate them, rewarmed, for lunch. If anything it was better than the original. The fish tasted wonderful - none of that "old" flavor I'd noted before, and plenty of lovely spice.

I am DEFINITELY going to make this again. I may even try marinading the fish in the red spicy sauce for a day first, just to give it all a chance to meld!

[boaziko]

Thanks again Elie for another successful dish!

Did it yesterday, as a "pan-mid-east" project, along with fresh Tahina I got from Egypt, El Rashidi El Mizan.

Came out perfect with local fish (kind of) Sea Bass.

Boaziko

←

You are more than welcome. Did you do a whole fish or fillets?

Elie

←

It was a whole fish (as a matter of fact, 2). next time filets. too many bone work, my family is spoiled.

Tommorow we'll have the ("Clean") leftovers.

Boaziko

[FoodMan]

Thanks again Elie for another successful dish!

Did it yesterday, as a "pan-mid-east" project, along with fresh Tahina I got from Egypt, El Rashidi El Mizan.

Came out perfect with local fish (kind of) Sea Bass.

Boaziko

←

You are more than welcome. Did you do a whole fish or fillets?

Elie

←

It was a whole fish (as a matter of fact, 2). next time filets. too many bone work, my family is spoiled.

Tommorow we'll have the ("Clean") leftovers.

Boaziko

←

The "clean" leftovers are one of the perks. I shred the leftover fish, pick craefully for bones and mix it up with the stuffing and sauce and eat at room temp almost like a dip with pita crips.

Elie

[kanljung]

Yeasterday I finally came around to make Samke Harra based on Elie's recipe. Getting hold of fresh sea bass or red mullet was out of the question, so I got hold of some nice hake fillets instead. I spread the stuffing on top of the fillets like this:

After baking them for about 10 minutes (350 degrees), I topped them with the tahini sauce and returned them to the oven for another 5 minutes.

I served the fish with rice and a simple salad of mixed green leaves. Both my wife and I liked it very much. I love walnut based sauces. But my two year old son, who normally isn't a particularly fuzzy eater, disliked it right from the beginning. I guess it was the sharpness of the tahini sauce that put him off.

Thanks Elie for a great recipe!