Le couscous au poisson de Tunis

In Phnom Penh, the Tamarind on street 240 offers the best couscous in town. We used to go so often that it became a favorite dish of Panhlauv, my bro and younger member of our family. Now studying in the US, he still comes home asking for a couscous, as if it was a staple food of Cambodia. He prefers with lamb but a recent travel helped mom learn how to cook it with fish, usually the "Merou" or grouper, a huge fish with firm flesh from the Atlantic that can grow up to two meters. On that day, none was available so our friend opted for the mullet, more fragile so Rim, the cook, had to watch carefully so it is not undone. So here are the 55 steps to have an authentic "couscous au poisson" !

INGREDIENTS (8-10 persons)

- 2 or 3 fishes clean and cut into large pieces 

- 1 kg of couscous (roulé à la main)

- 3 dried chilies (for the color)

- Cumin powder

- Karbouia powder

- 3-4 small onions

- 2 cups of chickpeas

- 2 cups of green olives (firm)

- pepper, salt

- 1 cup of olive oil

- Chili paste / harissa

- 1 cup minced onions

- 2 tbs tomato paste 

- 3 large potatoes (do not cut into smaller pieces)

- a piece of pumpkin

- 5 green pepper / jalapenos

STEPS

1.  Put about 3 liters of water to boil
2. Add the chickpeas, half a cup of olive oil, 1 tbs of minced onions, 1tsp of chili paste (or less), half a spoon of pepper, 2 tbs of karouia, 3-4 small onions. If you are using lamb, add it to the boiling water too.
3. Marinate the fish with 1 tbs of karouia, 1 tbs of cumin powder, 2 tbs of minced onions
4. Simmer for about 15 min, then add 2 tbs of tomato paste
5. Wash the dried chili, remove the seeds, fry for 30 seconds then pound with salt (it's hard to make it very crushed, continue until fine!)
6. Make a small incision to the green peppers (jalapenos) to put some salt; fry the green peppers and set aside
7. Add the potatoes (whole piece)
8. Add more water (3 cups) and the crushed chilies
9. Add salt to the fish
10. let simmer for another 30 minutes
11. Meanwhile, prepare the couscous by adding half cup of olive oil, a cup of water; mix well and put to cook on the top of the couscous maker; put a lid and leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Then remove from the stove; 
12. Add boiling water to the soup if you see it has reduced too much;
13. Add about a cup of water (Mix half cup of boiling water with water at ambient temperature) to the couscous; mix well and let it absorb the water for 5 minutes (outside the stove) ; make a funnel in the middle so the steam can circulate. 
14. Once the soup is gently boiling, add the fish, the pumpkin.
15. Put the couscous on top of the couscous maker again, mix well, leave it until it is cooked (check the consistency, might be a few minutes or 10);
16. Let the fish cook for about 15 min/20 minutes then remove it (the fish should remain firm) then set it aside.
17. Once the couscous is cooked, remove from the stove
18. Set the couscous plate: put the couscous in the plate, add a few spoons of butter, mix well; pour the soup, mix well, add salt and pepper to your taste;
19. Arrange the couscous, then add the fish, the cooked vegetables; add boiled eggs cut in half, the green olives and the fried green peppers.
20. That's it ! enjoy the couscous and let us know how it was !