Trevally in Coconut Milk Broth- Bouyon koko Karang

The  Trevally in Coconut Milk Broth- Bouyon koko Karang– is a Seychellois dish whereby the trevally  is bathed in a fragrant coconut  sauce that is infused with lemongrass , kaffir lime leaves, fresh coriander and a touch of turmeric.

Let your senses travel with this creamy and aromatic dish inspired by the exotic and intoxicating scents of Seychelles! This is a fast and easy dish to prepare that is full of amazing flavour.

Some people may call this dish a curry. It is definitely not. Because it does not have the curry spices as ingredients, is thinner than a curry and has the consistency of a soup or broth.

You can use any type of fish for this delicious dish, except shark and rays. In Seychelles, however,  it is traditionally made with trevally and mackerel and is always served with plenty of rice.

BOUYON DEFINED

The   bouyon, in all its forms, is probably the most popular dish among the Seychellois and is consumed almost daily.  It is always served on plain boiled rice, accompanied by a variety of chutney, including pumpkin or aubergine chutney, and a freshly made hot chilli sauce.

THE CLASSICAL BOUILLON

Bouillon comes from a 17th-century French word that means “liquid in which something has been boiled”. While it can be used as a base for making soups and sauces, bouillon itself is simply a clear, seasoned broth with no solid ingredients. Bouillon and broth are synonymous.

THE COURT-BOUILLON

To complicate matters, we also have the word ‘court-bouillon’ which, in the strictest sense, is a broth made by cooking various vegetables and herbs (a whole onion studded with whole cloves, celery, carrots, and a bouquet garni in water for about 30 minutes. It is used for poaching fish, seafood, or vegetables and, in some cases, the broth is spiked with wine, lemon juice, or vinegar. “Court” is the French word for ‘short,’ and it describes the preparation time for bouillon, which is very short.

BOUILLON CUBE

The term bouillon also pertains to the condensed-cube and powder forms of broth, used to add a burst of flavor to some recipes.

SEYCHELLOIS CREOLE BOUYON

In the Seychellois cuisine, the  bouyon is more than just a clear broth . It is in fact close to a bouillabaisse, which is a sea-food stew originating from Marseille, France. It is made with a variety of seafood flavoured with onion, garlic, tomatoes, fennel, saffron and fresh thyme. The word “bouillabaisse” is a contraction of ‘bouillir’ (to boil) and ‘abaisser’ (to reduce), or “bouillon abaissé”, reduced broth. 

In seychelles we have three types of bouyons – the bouyon blan, the bouyon bred and the bouyon koko

BOUYON BLAN

As the name implies, this bouyon is a white broth and is made with fresh fish flavoured with herbs, chopped green or ripe tomatoes, garlic, ginger and, sometimes, a neutral vegetable like luffa. Sometimes small cubes of potatoes are added to emphasise the white as well as to slightly thicken the dish. It has a slight tarty flavour which is obtained either from the tomatoes or from the  bilenbi ,also known as tree cucumber. Most fish can be cooked in a bouyon blan except the sharks and dark flesh fish like tuna.

BOUYON BRED

The bouyon  bred can either be a plain bouyon or a fish bouyon. The plain bouyon can be made with a variety of spinach locally known as bred . The plain bouyon bred is in fact a soup and is at times flavoured with oil in which fish has been fried. The fish bouyon is made in the same manner as the plain bouyon bred with the addition of fried bite size pieces of fish.

BOUYON KOKO

The bouyon koko is a broth which is made with coconut milk, and which has a very thin sauce. It is traditionally made with tuna, bonito, Trevally and mackerel and flavoured with turmeric and cinnamon leaves.

Preparing the Trevally in Coconut Milk Broth- Bouyon koko Karang

Wash your fish in cold running water and pat dry. Cut into bite size pieces and season with salt and cracked pepper and toss in the lemon juice. Allow the seasoned fish rest for about 1 hour in the refrigerator. 

In a pot, put oil then heat for a few minutes. Then add the sliced onion  and sweat for about 2 minutes until tender and fragrant.Then add the diced tomato, chilli, chopped coriander , garlic and ginger, and turmeric powder. Mix well with a wooden spoon and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes of cooking, add the coconut milk. If you are using tinned coconut milk add 300ml of water. This is because the tinned coconut milk contains thickener that will make your bouyon too thick. You do not have to add extra water if you are preparing fresh coconut milk.

Mix well with a wooden spoon and add the bouquet garni, if you have made one, as well as the chilli and simmer for about 4 minutes. Add the seasoned fish and simmer for no more than 10 minutes, being very careful not to overcook the fish.

At the end of cooking, remove the bouquet garni and chilli, and and serve over plain boiled rice and snake gourd salad

The chilli

 The flavour of chilli is a must for this dish, but the heat is optional. The preferred chilli is the goat chilli, piman kabri, which is a chilli from the habanero family, that is extremely hot. It tends to have a fruity taste once you get past the burn. It imparts a very unique flavour to this dish and can, however, make the dish quite hot. To reduce the heat of the chilli, you can carefully remove the seeds and pith and use only the skin. It is advisable to remove the chilli before service.

Optional items

These optional items below are not traditionally added as ingredients in the bouyon koko but will surprise you with an explosion of flavour. Tie them all together in a small bouquet garni to be removed once the dish is cooked.

Kafir Lime Leaves

Kafir lime is called ‘combava’ in French. The plant was introduced in Mauritius by  Pierre Poivre .  It was never introduced in the Seychelles and  we do not have a local name for it. The kaffir leaf has a potent citrus flavour that is sour, with a floral undertone. It is best compared to a combination of lime, lemon, and mandarin, and is unique in taste. The leaves of a kaffir lime are a similar texture to bay leaves and are not eaten when added whole to a dish.

Fresh kaffir lime leaves can be hard to find , but frozen  or dried are a good alternative

Lemongrass- sitronnel (Fr. Citronelle)

Lemongrass is widespread on the islands and is not traditionally used as a food ingredient in Seychelles where it is mainly used as an infusion when one has a fever. It contains substances that are thought to relieve pain and swelling and reduce fever. It has a citrus and lemon flavour, with a hint of mint and is very popular in Thai cuisine. Its flavour is light and doesn’t take over the other flavours in a meal.

If you wish to add lemongrass as an ingredient, wash and peel away the tough outer layers to reveal the pale lower section of the stem. Use a sharp knife to trim the base. Press the stem with the flat side of a knife to bruise and release the flavour.

Corriander leaves- kotomili

Although dried coriander seeds have been used in curry powder, the fresh corriander was not widely used in our creole cuisine. Wash the coriander and trim the roots. Use the whole stem. You may choose to chop your coriander and add it to your dish or leave it whole and add it to your bouquet garni.

As mentioned above tie all of these spices together in a bouquet garni  and place the  in the bouyon at the right time and remove it before service.

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A Seychellois Expression –Bouyon Koko Resofe- ‘reheated coconut milk broth’.

What is the origin of this expression and what does it mean?

This dish has given rise to this very popular Seychellois expression, above. Please find below an extract of an article from Egla L. Rose.  I have also taken the liberty to post this link to her blog so that you can access another blog that is dedicated to the Seychellois culture, tradition and cuisine.

The origin

“The expression, Bouyon Koko Resofe, originated during the early colonial days. In those days, after their hard day’s labour in the plantation, some men would get permission to go out fishing on the proviso that the best quality fish would be given to their master. The rest of the catch would be taken home and simply cooked in a bouyon blan.

Sometimes not all of the bouyon would be consumed and some would be kept for the next day. However, because there was no refrigeration then, the bouyon would start turning bad overnight. In these days food was scarce and could not be wasted. The stale bouyon was reheated the next day and to make it palatable coconut milk, turmeric and chilli were added so as to conceal the odour and taste.  This bouyon was thus renamed as “bouyon koko resofe”-reheated coconut milk broth.

The meaning of the expression

This expression, bouyon koko resofe, has become a household everyday Seychellois expression referring to an action that is not sincere. Eg. sending a wedding invitation to someone at the last minute when it is customarily done months ahead.  The person receiving the invitation will ask if he/she is a bouyon koko resofe . This action is interpreted as ‘the invitation is too late to be sincere’. Another example will be when a married man leaves his wife for a new relationship and then tries to return to her after that new relationship has failed. She will ask her ex-husband whether she is a bouyon koko resofe. The attempted return is interpreted as not being sincere.”

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Here is the recipe for Trevally in Coconut Milk Broth- Bouyon koko Karang

Any suggestions or comments about this post

I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.

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