Boulettes de Poisson 
(Senegalese fried fish balls in tomato sauce)

Written by on in Recipe
A place of Senegalese fish balls
Image by Whats4Eats

The Senegalese love eating these tasty little fried fish balls with a spicy tomato sauce or served over their famous rice and vegetable dish, ceebu jen. Use any kind of skinned and boned white-fleshed fish; cod, hake, perch, tilapia all work well.

Boulettes de Poisson

Boulettes de Poisson

Course: RecipeCuisine: Senegal
Makes

4

servings

The Senegalese love eating these tasty little fried fish balls with a spicy tomato sauce or served over their famous rice and vegetable dish, ceebu jen.

Ingredients

  • Fish balls

  • Onion, chopped — 1

  • Chile peppers, chopped (optional) — 1 to 3

  • Parsley, chopped — 1/2 bunch

  • White fish fillets, chopped — 2 pounds

  • Bread crumbs — 1/2 cup

  • Water or milk — 1/4 cup

  • Salt and pepper — to season

  • Oil for deep frying

  • Tomato sauce

  • Oil — 3 tablespoons

  • Onion, finely chopped — 1

  • Chile peppers, minced (optional) — 1 to 3

  • Garlic, minced — 2 to 3 cloves

  • Tomatoes, chopped — 2 cups

  • Tomato paste — 2 tablespoons

  • Water — 2 cups

  • Salt and pepper — to taste

Directions

  • Add the onion, chiles and parsley to to a food processor or large mortar and process until smooth. Add the fish and continue to process until smooth and pasty. Remove to a bowl.
  • Stir the bread crumbs and water or milk together in a small bowl, then stir into the fish mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Using oiled hands, form the fish mixture into golf ball-sized balls and set them on a tray.
  • Heat the oil in a deep fryer or around 1-inch deep in a large pot to around 365°F. Add a few of the fish balls and deep fry, turning often, until golden brown on the outside. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining fish balls. Set the fish balls aside.
  • For the sauce, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan over medium flame. Add the onion, chiles and garlic and saute until the onion is cooked through and translucent. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the water and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for another 4 or 5 minutes.
  • Stir the fish balls into the tomato sauce and simmer another minute or two. Adjust seasoning and serve over rice pilaf or ceebu jen.

Boulettes de Poisson Notes and Variations

  • Use any type of hot chile pepper you like. Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers work well. Eliminate the peppers if you don’t like spicy food.
  • Africans love Maggi® seasoning. Stir a crushed Maggi cube or a fish or chicken bouillon cube into the fish ball mixture for extra flavor.

Whats4eats is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.