Fish & seafood · Preserved fish

Smoked fish

Hot- or cold-smoked and dried fish (catfish, mackerel, bonga); flakes into West African stews or eaten as is.

Also called: smoked catfish, smoked mackerel, dried fish, poisson fumé, bonga fish, kapenta

Around the world: poisson fumé (fr) · peixe fumado, peixe seco (pt)

A kind of fish

5 recipes with it

Photo: Adoscam, via Wikimedia Commons (public-domain)

What it is

Smoked fish covers hot-smoked fish, which is cooked and flakes (smoked mackerel, trout), and heavily smoked, dried fish used as a seasoning, such as West African smoked catfish and bonga (shad), or kapenta in Southern Africa. Dried smoked fish is hard and must be soaked and picked from its bones before cooking.

How it’s used

Soups and stews such as egusi, okra and pepper soup
Flaked into rice dishes and jollof
Smoked mackerel pâté and salads
Mixed into sauces as a savoury base

Characteristics

Taste: Smoky, salty and deeply savoury.
Texture: Moist and flaky (hot-smoked) or hard and dry (smoke-dried).
When cooked: Soak dried smoked fish in hot water, then remove bones and skin and flake into the dish.
Sold as: smoked, dried
Cooking uses: Commonly cooked, Mainly a seasoning
Common in: Nigerian, Ghanaian, West African, Senegalese, Zambian, British, Scandinavian

Storage

Refrigerated. Keep moist hot-smoked fish refrigerated and use within a few days of opening. Fully dried smoked fish keeps in an airtight container in a cool, dry place or the freezer.