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Shawa (Bonga) Fillets |

Africans Foods

The process to smoke and dry Shawa (Bonga)takes 2 to 5 days, depending of the size of the fish. Firstly, it is fire wooded smoked.. Therefore, fish is placed on wood sticks, then as said before fire smoked.

Finally, drying the fish on a smouldering fire .

For the oven process, puts the fish in a huge oven without door,  and walls in either sides outside or inside in a smoke house. The smoked shawa (bonga) has a shelf of for several months in ambient conditions.

Shawa (Bonga)

Ingredients:

First of all 2 cups of peeled beans, learn how to here

Salt

Red bell pepper (tatashe)

Scotch bonnet chillies (ata rodo), use according to heat tolerance

Seasoning

Smoked fish

Ponmo, cooked and cut in cubes

Dried shrimps

Bonga fish

Locust beans (Iru woro)

2 onions

4 Palm oil

How to make ofuloju

First of all, soak peeled beans in water for at least 3 hours .

Blend beans with little water, to form a smooth batter.

Empty the beans into a bowl and beat with a hand mixer/ wooden ladle for about 10 minutes.

Scoop beans batter into a foil container. Furthermore,  steam on a specially medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the heat once it is done and set aside.

Also blend peppers, onions roughly and drain off excess water from the pepper.

Heat for a minute. After 3-4 minutes add palm oil. Also add the locust beans and the remaining chopped onions.  Fry for about 40 seconds, then add the combined pepper mixture and stir.

Add the ponmo or any other tough protein at this stage to the sauce if using.

Add salt and seasoning accordingly and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Add shrimps and bonga fish to the sauce, if you are using smoked mackerel; add it to the sauce as last ingredient and continue to cook till oil floats on the surface of the sauce.