I love trying out new dishes and cooking with foods I’ve never even heard of never mind cooked. I went to the local fish counter and had the pleasure of being dealt with by Daniel, a kind, helpful and delightful man who gave me cooking tips for Safio – conger eel. I didn’t even know what it was so I was very happy for his input. And for google telling me what it was!

We thoroughly enjoyed this fish/eel. Some people have preconceived ideas about eel, but I think a lot of this is in the mind… And sometimes in the art of cooking it. I bought two different “cuts” of eel, one to fry and one to stew, and I didn’t prepare the fried one as well as I could/should have. It was still a bit tough after cooking so I shall have to experiment with it again before posting the recipe for you.


In the two photos you can see the different cuts. The “cutlets” with their little “legs” (3 on the plate) are for stewing with the rice, and the other plate with 6 pieces is for frying.
The eel with rice and tomatoes was superb and we will be eating it again for sure. It was so tender and just fell off the bone. It was easy to prepare and cook and tasted delicious. I served the stewed eel with the rice, a piece of fried eel, broccoli cream cheese puree (recipe to follow) and fried aubergines with cream cheese (recipe also to follow). I do like to put lots of different things on a plate!

INGREDIENTS
(Serves 4)
1 big onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup rice
1 glass of white wine, or water if preferred
3 glasses of water
Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
4 pieces of conger eel cutlets (with little legs), see above
Bunch of parsley, chopped
Few sprigs of mint, chopped, optional

METHOD:
1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for a few minutes to soften. Add the tomatoes and continue to saute for a few minutes more till they soften a little.
2. Add the rice for a minute or two, stirring to combine, then add the white wine (or water). Let the wine boil away for a minute or two and then add the rest of the water. It may seem like a lot of water, but you want a nice wet rice at the end, not a dry rice.
3. Mix it all well, season well with salt, pepper and paprika, then snuggle the fish into the rice veg mix. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, till done. If there is too much liquid, take the lid off and let it simmer a bit longer. I gave mine a gentle stir every once in a while, but be careful not to break up the fish too much.
4. Remove from the heat and put the fish on to a plate, then stir the chopped parsley and mint into the rice, reserving a bit to sprinkle on top before serving.