Senegalese Kandia Soup: Okra and Smoked Fish Sauce

Name: Senegalese Kandia Soup: Okra and Smoked Fish Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 4 people
Cuisine: Senegal, West Africa
Ingredients: 500 g of fresh or frozen okra, sliced into rounds; 100 g of smoked fish, flaked; 100 g of dried shrimp; 15 cl of red palm oil; 1 tablespoon of nététou (soumbala); 1 onion, sliced; 3 cloves of garlic, chopped; 1 fresh chilli, chopped (or a small amount of green chilli paste, failing that); 2 fresh tomatoes, blended (or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste diluted in a little water); 300 g of broken rice, to serve; 1 stock cube, optional; Salt and pepper; 1.5 litres of water

Kandia soup, a Senegalese sauce of okra, palm oil and smoked fish, served with rice. A Casamance recipe, sourced, with NKOSI ingredients.

Prep.

20 min

Cuisson

60 min

Total

80 min

Servings

4 people

Niveau

Medium

Cuisine

Senegal, West Africa

Ingrédients

Ingredients

500 g of fresh or frozen okra, sliced into rounds
100 g of smoked fish, flaked
100 g of dried shrimp
15 cl of red palm oil
1 tablespoon of nététou (soumbala)
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 fresh chilli, chopped (or a small amount of green chilli paste, failing that)
2 fresh tomatoes, blended (or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste diluted in a little water)
300 g of broken rice, to serve
1 stock cube, optional
Salt and pepper
1.5 litres of water

Préparation

Preparation

1

Soak the dried shrimp for 10 minutes in a little lukewarm water, then drain. Rinse the smoked fish and let it soak for a few minutes in lukewarm water to soften it, then flake it.
2

Wash the okra and slice it into thin rounds.
3

In a large pot, sauté the onion, garlic and chilli for a few minutes, then add the blended tomatoes and the nététou. Cook for 5 minutes.
4

Pour in 1.5 litres of water, add the flaked smoked fish and the drained shrimp, salt and pepper.
5

Stir in the okra and simmer over low heat for 40 to 45 minutes, until the sauce thickens naturally.
6

Add the palm oil, adjust the seasoning with the stock cube if needed, and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
7

Meanwhile, rinse the broken rice and cook it for about 12 minutes over low heat in 1.5 times its volume of water, then leave to stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
8

Serve the kandia soup piping hot, with the broken rice on the side.

Astuces et conseils

The mucilage of okra is released all the more as the cooking is long and stirred: this is precisely what gives kandia soup its characteristic binding texture.

Pour aller plus loin : histoire, variantes, accompagnements et conseils

In brief

Kandia soup: a Senegalese sauce of okra, palm oil and smoked fish, served with rice
Origin: Senegal, closely associated with Casamance
Key ingredients: okra, smoked fish, dried shrimp, palm oil, nététou
A simmered family dish, served as two separate dishes: the sauce and the rice

Origins and cultural history of kandia soup

Kandia soup, also called soupou kandia or soupou kandja, is an okra sauce typical of Casamance, the lush region of southern Senegal. In Wolof, kandia (or kandja) means okra itself, so the name of the dish directly describes its main ingredient.

In the Wolof tradition, the sauce and the rice are prepared in two separate pots, a practice known by the expression ñaari cin, literally "two pots", unlike thieboudienne, where the rice cooks directly in the fish sauce. It is the natural mucilage of the okra, released by long cooking, that thickens the sauce without any need to add flour.

What are the key ingredients of kandia soup

Kandia soup brings together products that were long hard to find outside West Africa.

Fresh or frozen okra
Smoked fish
Dried shrimp
Red palm oil
Nététou (soumbala)
Onion, garlic and chilli
Broken rice, to serve

Nutritional benefits of kandia soup

Raw okra provides, per 100 grams, about 31 kilocalories, 1.9 grams of protein, 3.2 grams of fibre, 23 milligrams of vitamin C and 31 micrograms of vitamin K1, according to the Ciqual table from ANSES and the USDA FoodData Central database. Smoked fish and dried shrimp provide protein, and the broken rice served alongside the dish provides carbohydrates. Red palm oil and nététou go into the recipe only in small amounts, as a fat and a condiment.

Frequently asked questions about kandia soup

What does "kandia" mean?

In Wolof, kandia (or kandja) means okra. The name of the dish therefore refers directly to its main ingredient, the vegetable that gives the sauce its thick texture once simmered.

Why is kandia soup served as two separate dishes?

Following the Wolof tradition known as ñaari cin ("two pots"), the okra sauce and the broken rice are cooked separately and then served together, unlike a dish such as thieboudienne, where the rice cooks in the fish sauce.

Where to find the ingredients for kandia soup in France?

NKOSI sells the palm oil, the broken rice and the other dry ingredients of kandia soup, and ships them from the Paris area within 24 to 72 working hours, to mainland France (2 to 3 working days) and to ten European countries. The minimum order is 39 €: in France, delivery to a pickup point is then free, and home delivery is free from 59 €.

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