SAMKEH HARRA (SPICED FISH)

Samkeh harra or spiced fish is a specialty of Tripoli el Mina, par excellence! Tripoli is a coastal city in North of Lebanon, well known for seafood, and on top of the pyramid lays, “Samkeh Harra” translated from Arabic, it simply means Spicy Fish!!

Samkeh Harra is one of the feelings of pride of the Lebanese Fine Cuisine. It falls under the selective category of guest-honoring dishes.

INGREDIENTS

1 large Fish, scaled and cleaned (about 2 Kg)

Lemon Slices

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Salt and mixed Spices, to taste

TAHINI PASTE

1 cup of Tahini, sesame paste

1 cup of Coriander, finely chopped, can be parsley instead of coriander

10 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 cup of Fresh Lemon Juice

2 cups of Water

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1 cup of Pine nuts, sliced, peeled, and fried in vegetable oil

1/2 cup of Walnuts, crushed and well grinded

1 tsp. Hot Chili Powder

Salt, to taste

METHOD

Heat oven at 200F degrees.

To prepare the fish, clean it with salt and vinegar then rinse with cold water in order to tame down any smell. Cut few slits in it.

Rub the fish with salt and mixed spices and with olive oil. Stuff the fish from inside with thin slices of lemon for flavoring, then cover it with lemon slices.

Place the fish on an olive oil greased cooking tray lined with potato slices to prevent the fish from sticking on the oven tray. Bake at 200F degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Check occasionally till done.

Tahini Paste

In a small pan, mix 1 cup of pine nuts with 1-2 tablespoon of vegetable oil and cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Be careful as they can burn very fast.

Take half of the pine nuts and grind them with a mortar and pestle and keep the remaining ones for garnishing.

Add olive oil to a cooking pot, add the crushed garlic and diced coriander, fry for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the mixture of tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, and chili powder, the sauce should have a rather liquid consistency and should have a nice balance of garlic and lemony flavors. If the sauce is too thick, add a cup or 2 of water and, a bit of lemon juice. Bring the sauce to a boil while keeping on stirring non-stop and then lower heat, add the smashed pine nuts and ground walnuts then keep on cooking on low heat and stirring until you reach about 20 minutes of total cooking time for the sauce and until the sauce color darkens, and the olive oil comes to the surface.

Once the fish is baked, lay it out on a serving platter, pour the cooked tahini sauce on top of the fish, garnish with fried pine nuts and slices of lemon on the sides of the platter.

Serve with pita bread, Hummus, and Tabouli.