Senegalese Okra & Seafood Stew

Name: Senegalese Okra & Seafood Stew
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Sengalese
Ingredients: 6 tbsp. palm oil; ¼ cup fish sauce; 2 habanero or Scotch bonnet chiles, slit in half lengthwise; 24 mussels, scrubbed and debearded; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 16 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on; 1 large eggplant or 4 small Thai eggplants, cut into 1″ chunks; 12 cups fish stock; 2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped; 3 bay leaves; 4 cups okra, sliced ½″ thick; Cooked white rice or fonio (small West African grain), for serving

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Soups and Stews

By The Editors of Saveur

Published 2015

About

One taste of this chile-spiked mussel and shrimp stew from Senegal, which calls for both traditional palm oil and fish sauce, will convince you that it’s a predecessor of Louisiana-style gumbo.

Ingredients

12 cups fish stock
4 cups okra, sliced ½″ thick
3

Africa
Senegal
Main course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free

Method

Bring the stock to a boil in a 6-qt. saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and add okra, bay leaves, and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until okra is very tender and stock has reduced by one-quarter, about 1½ hours.
Stir palm oil, 3 tbsp. fish sauce, the chiles, and eggplant into the broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until stew is thickened and okra falls