A rougaille (pronounced as ‘roo-gai’) is a French word but with origins from Mauritius. It means a dish that uses tomato as its base, as well as a combination of spices to cook its main ingredient such as fish, meat or vegetables. Here, I am using fish as a main ingredient.
I find this recipe interesting because it uses salted fish which is salty, to flavour and balance out the sour acidity from the tomatoes. Even though there are lots of spices, it is easy to stomach when cooked to flavour the tomatoes; salted fish is also a familiar ingredient used by the Chinese to cook dishes like fried rice too.
A rougaille is served with rice, so if you are a rice lover, give this recipe a try to see if you like it too!
Ingredients:
- Oil: 3 tbsp
- Salted fish: 80g (1 thick fillet), soaked in hot water for 15min, pat dry, shred
- Onion: 1, finely chopped
- Ginger: 1/2 tsp, minced
- Garlic: 1 clove, minced
- Cinnamon: 1 stick
- Star anise: 3
- Tomato: 4 medium size, chopped
- Bay leaf: 3
- Salt: to taste
- Sugar: 1 tbsp
- Parsley: 1 stalk, finely chopped
- Fried shallots (optional): to serve with
Method:
- Heat oil in pan. Fry salted fish till browned and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Brown onions, ginger & garlic. Fry till fragrant.
- Add in cinnamon & star anise. Then stir in tomatoes & bay leaf. Turn down fire and simmer for 5min till tomatoes are soft.
- Add in salt, sugar & fried salted fish.
- Garnish with parsley & shallots. Serve warm with white rice or bread.
Serving:
3 – 4 persons as side dish or condiment
