Moroccan Fish

Moroccan Fish (الحوت بالشرمولة)

In Moroccan Arabic the dish is named after its seasoning: chermoula, a blend of cilantro, garlic, cumin, paprika and lemon. In Hebrew the name that stuck is “דג מרוקאי” (Moroccan fish), and sometimes “דג בחריף” (spicy fish) or “דג ברוטב אדום” (fish in red sauce).

This is a white fish fillet that cooks in a shallow pot in a sauce of red peppers, tomatoes, garlic and paprika, with no frying first. The fish is neither grilled nor fried but gently cooked inside the sauce, which is why it stays moist. In Israel it is one of the standard starters on the Shabbat table of Moroccan-born families, and it is usually eaten cold or lukewarm the next day — not hot from the pot.

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 30 minutes · Total: about 50 minutes · Yield: 4 servings · Difficulty: easy

Moroccan fish, chraime and chermoula: three dishes that get confused

All three names show up in Israeli cooking almost interchangeably, but they actually describe three different things.

Chermoula is not a dish but a seasoning blend — fresh cilantro, garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil and lemon — used in Morocco as a marinade for fish, chicken and vegetables. It is the base of this recipe, but it is also the base of dozens of other dishes.

Chraime is a Tripolitan-Libyan dish that came to Israel with Libyan Jews, and its name comes from the Arabic word for “hot.” It is based on a hot pepper sauce and a little tomato, is much spicier than the Moroccan version, and the fish in it is usually lightly fried before cooking in the sauce.

Moroccan fish, in the sense that took hold in Israel, is the Moroccan-Jewish version: a sauce based on sweet red peppers, tomato, a large amount of fresh cilantro, and moderate heat that comes from one pepper rather than six. It is eaten cold or lukewarm, unlike chraime, which is usually served hot. In practice the three families have blended in Israel, so “Moroccan fish” in many homes is something in between.

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 800 grams white fish fillet in thick slices — tilapia, sea bream, grouper, cod or sea bass
• 3 large red peppers (about 350 grams), in strips
• 500 grams grated tomatoes (or 500 grams canned crushed tomatoes)
• 1 whole head of garlic (about 10 cloves), sliced
• 60 ml olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 hot pepper, whole or sliced
• A large bunch of fresh cilantro
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt and black pepper
• 100 ml water

Choosing ingredients and substitutes

Supermarket tilapia fillet works fine in the sauce too. Thaw frozen fish in the fridge, drain and pat dry; 800 grams is the weight of the fish after thawing. With canned tomatoes use 500 grams, which isn’t necessarily one can. The fish’s cooking time depends on its thickness and type, so check that the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.

Method

1. Season the fish ahead. Sprinkle the fish slices with salt, half of the cumin and a little lemon, and refrigerate for 20 minutes while you make the sauce. Seasoning early gets flavor into the flesh, not just around it.
2. Start the garlic in cold oil. Put the garlic slices in a wide pot with the cold oil and raise the heat gradually. Garlic that goes into hot oil browns and turns bitter in seconds; garlic that heats up together with the oil releases its aroma without browning.
3. Add the peppers. Add the red pepper strips and fry for 8-10 minutes over medium heat until they soften and sweeten.
4. Build the sauce. Add the grated tomatoes, paprika, the rest of the cumin, the hot pepper, salt, black pepper and water, and cook for 12-15 minutes until the sauce thickens and turns a deep red.
5. Add the fish. Lay the fish slices on the sauce, don’t stir, and cover. Cook over low heat for about 10–12 minutes, depending on the fish’s thickness, until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily. This is the step that determines the result: overcooked fish falls apart into dry fibers, and there is no bringing it back.
6. Finish with cilantro. Scatter half the chopped cilantro over the top, turn off the heat, and cover for another 5 minutes. Add the rest of the cilantro and the lemon just before serving.
7. Serve at room temperature or cold, with bread. The flavor settles after a few hours in the fridge, which is why the dish is made a day ahead.

Nutrition facts and calorie estimate

The recommended serving is about 200 grams of fish with sauce — a quarter of the pot.

This is the dish with the best protein-to-calorie ratio on this page: 42 grams of protein in 390 calories, with almost no carbohydrates. The fish itself contributes only about 210 calories per serving; the olive oil contributes about 135, and the vegetables the rest.

There is also a gain that doesn’t show up in the table. The sauce is tomatoes and red peppers cooked in olive oil — exactly the conditions that raise the bioavailability of lycopene and beta-carotene, both fat-soluble carotenoids. Red pepper also provides a very large amount of vitamin C, although some of it is destroyed during the long cooking.

As for omega-3: white fish like sea bream and cod provide only a modest amount compared with salmon, mackerel or sardines. Anyone who wants this dish mainly for omega-3 should make it with salmon fillet, at a cost of about 120 extra calories per serving.

Variations and tips

• Less oil: 40 ml instead of 60 cuts about 45 calories per serving. The sauce comes out less glossy; the flavor is almost identical.
• With chickpeas: Add a drained can to the sauce 10 minutes before the fish. Adds about 100 calories and 4 grams of fiber per serving, and turns it into a main course.
• Salmon instead of white fish: About 510 calories per serving, but several times the omega-3. The cooking time shortens by about 2 minutes.
• Making ahead: The dish improves on the second day and keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Don’t freeze it — the fish loses its texture completely when thawed.
• Too salty: Add a cut-up potato and cook for 15 minutes before adding the fish.

Summary

Moroccan fish is a recipe of twenty minutes’ work and two decisions: don’t brown the garlic, and don’t overcook the fish. The result is a dish with 42 grams of protein in 390 calories, almost no carbohydrates, and a sauce that improves the availability of its carotenoids. It is served on the Shabbat table alongside matbucha and zaalouk, and is usually made a day ahead. A parallel fish dish from a neighboring cuisine: Iraqi masgouf. More recipes in Moroccan cuisine.