afoona
Moroccan Couscous with Spicy Fish
fish

Moroccan Couscous with Spicy Fish – Pareve version

Classic Moroccan couscous with spicy sea bass in a spicy tomato sauce. A complete, filling meal. Pareve version: Vegetable stock.

⏱ 50 min🍽 4 servings 🌍 Middle Eastern👩‍🍳 Afoona🧩 3 parts

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tomato sauce

  1. 1
    Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
    ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
  2. 2
    Add the onion and fry 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
    💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
  3. 3
    Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
    💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
  4. 4
    Add the cumin and hot paprika and stir about a minute, until fragrant.
    ⚙ SimmeringStove
    💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

To assemble

  1. 5
    Pat the fish pieces dry with paper towels and place it in the sauce, skin side down, and spoon some of the sauce over it. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 12–15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily.
    StoveLid
    💡Pat the fish dry and don't overcook it: wet fish thins the sauce, and overcooked fish dries out and falls apart.
  2. 6
    Put the couscous in a bowl with the oil and salt.
    Bowl
  3. 7
    Bring the liquid to a boil and pour it over the couscous.
    StoveSmall saucepan
  4. 8
    Cover 5 minutes and fluff the grains with a fork.
    💡Fluff with a fork, not a spoon: a fork separates the grains, and a spoon mashes them into clumps.
  5. 9
    Serve the fish in its sauce over the couscous.
718calories
43 gprotein
76 gcarbs
24 gfat
● protein 25%● carbs 44%● fat 31%

Per serving (510 g), of 4 servings

For the Tomato sauce · To assemble ·

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⚖ About the ingredients

🔧 Tools needed (5) · 🍳 2 cooking vessels

  • Stove · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
  • Frying pan · Also works: Wok (None) · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Pot (High sides, slow evaporation and weak browning)
  • Lid · Also works: Aluminum foil (tight aluminum foil) · Plate (an upside-down plate)
  • Small saucepan · Also works: Pot (None) · Frying pan (A deep pan for sauces)
  • Bowl · Also works: Pot (None)

By the steps, as the recipe is built now: another version or addition can change the list.

🧩 Built from…

Tomato sauce → Couscous → Fried onion → Fish in tomato sauce

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