Sayadieh, Lebanese-Style Fish and Rice

Are you ready to make the best rice and fish meal on earth? Consider making Sayadieh! Trust me, it’s showy and memorable, fitting for a weekend project or a dinner party—the recipe will impress your family and friends.

A hearty, one-pot rice cooked with fried onions, topped with fried fish and garnished with toasted nuts, known in Lebanon and the Middl East as sayadieh. There are several versions of Sayadieh, but nothing equates to the Beiruti-style, it’s a dish that goes back to the old days. It glows from a generous amount of fried onions, which imparts the rice that dark brown tint and earthy unique flavor. Yes, it is unlike any other. One of the reasons why sayadieh in Lebanon is such a festive dish is because it can take on so many flavors, making it a signature of Lebanese cuisine. Sayadieh comes from the word Sayad which translates to fisherman, it superbly captures the taste of the sea; a wonderful fish recipe for Ramadan – or anytime!

Why you will like sayadieh?

This is the kind of meal I turn to when entertaining, always a huge hit.

Sayadieh makes dinner a blast yet it’s satisfying enough to eat as leftovers, and count yourself lucky if you happen to have any leftovers of this flavorsome meal.

Ingredients needed to make sayadieh:

• Whole sea bass fish or any flaky fish like cod, haddok or halibu.
•  Jasmine rice, you can use your favorite rice. But beware, different types of rice may require more or less water or broth, and different types of rice have different textures and flavors. If you want the same result of mine, use Jasmine rice.
• Yellow or red onions, both works well.
• Netural oil like canola or sunflower oil, to fry the fish.
• Cumin powder, white pepper and salt for perfectly seasoned sayadieh.
• Water, to make the fish broth and to cook the rice.
• Pine nuts or blanched almonds.
• All-purpose flour, to dust the fish before frying.

Clean the fish or ask your fishmonger to gill, gut, scale and clean it for you, here how to clean it.

• Run the back of a sharp knife from the tail toward the head, repeating as necessary to get as many scales off as you can. Turn the fish over and repeat the process on the other side.
• Using a spoon, carefully remove all the entrails, making sure to get everything out, leaving only the flesh.
• Rinse the cavity thoroughly with running water. This helps remove any blood or remaining internal parts, which is important for flavor and safety. Drain well.

How to make sayadieh?

• Clean the fish as mentioned above or ask your fishmonger to clean it for you. Rinse under running cold water, and drain; pat dry with kitchen paper towels.
• Cut the fish into large chunks including the head.
• Coat the fish: Coat the fish with flour on both sides and shake well excess flour.
• Fry the fish: Heat oil in a large pot to an adequate frying temperature 180°C (350°F), add the fish chunks in batches, making sure that you use enough oil to cover your fish. Deep fry the fish until it is golden brown and cooked through. Remove fish from the oil and place on kitchen paper towel and drain.
•  For the fish stock: Transfer the fried head or heads of the fish to a pot, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and extract 5 cups of the stock (to cook the rice with later)
• Julienne your onions: Cut each onion in half; place the halved onions flat side down onto the cutting board, beginning from one end, slicing long thin strips.
• Rinse and drain the rice: Place the rice in a strainer and rinse under running cold water all over the rice and use your hands to agitate, until the water under the strainer turns clear.
• Toast the pine nuts: Transfer 1/2 cup of the oil used to fry the fish in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and roast to a golden color. Remove with a slotted spoon, repeat with the almonds.
• Caramelize the onions: Add the onions for about ten minutes, stirring every few minutes. Continue to cook and scrape until onions turn dark brown in color without burning, this step is crucial to obtain a typical sayadieh dish.
• Cook the rice: Add the drained rice and stir for 10 seconds, stir in water, season with salt, cumin powder and white pepper. Stir with a fork to mix everything together. Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Debone the fried fish.
• Serve the sayadieh: Transfer the cooked rice onto a platter and top with fried fish chunks, garnish with toast the pine nuts and almonds.

How to store leftover sayadieh?

Transfer the cooled sayadieh into an airtight storage container, never refrigerate hot rice, then store in the refrigerator. It lasts for 3 to 4 days.

How to reheat leftovers?

Two ways to reheat the sayadieh, but please do not reheat rice more than once!

• Bake in the oven: Combine the rice, with just a small splash of water, in an oven-safe baking tray. Use a fork to fluff up any large clusters of rice, then cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 300°F for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is heated through.
• Steam on the stovetop: Add the rice to a saucepan, with just a small splash of water, and use a fork to break up any large clusters of rice. Cover the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice is heated through.

Can I bake the fish instead of frying ?

Yes, you can, but frying is more flavorful.

Can I add more spices than the mentioned in the recipe?

There is always room for personal preference, but believe me the mentioned spices are just what you need for a balanced and flavorsome sayadieh.

Looking for more festive rice recipes, we got you covered!

• Lebanese Rice and meat
• Roasted Turkey with a Lebanese Twist
• Shrimp Kabsa

Tips to consider.

• For best results, use a measuring cup of 250 ml to measure the rice and fish stock.
• Classically, Arborio or Egyptian rice to make sayadieh, but I like the fragrant Jasmine rice, it gives sayadieh a lighter texture and a nutty aroma (though you could use other varieties of rice, too).
•   Rinse the rice thoroughly to avoid a goopy, mushy texture. Thoroughly rinsing the rice removes the surface starch and allows the rice to cook as separate, fluffy grains.
•   Use Whole fresh fish that have firm flesh and red gills with no odor.
•   This rice is delicious with cumin powder and white pepper that impart a unique light spicy flavor.
•    Traditionally, sayadieh is made with whole fish that is deep fried, and I like to stick to authenticity, so I kept it the way we grew up eating it; plus, cooking fish on the bone gives a better result. Both in flavor and also in helping the fish flesh from drying out, but can still use fish fillets for a quicker approach, dust the fillet with flour and fry as needed.
•   The rice is cooked with fried fish head stock that adds so much flavor to the rice.
•    Flaky fish is ideal for sayadieh like Sea Bass cod, haddok, halibu etc..
•   Darker-fleshed and oily fish, like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, are not usually used in a classic sayadieh.
• Serve sayadieh with taratour (lemony tahini sauce) and fattoush or your favorite leafy green salad.
•   Unlike other sayadieh versions, no turmeric is involved in making the Beiruti-Style sayadieh.
  

  Sayadieh

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  Prep: 29 minutes minutes

  Cook: 1 hour hour

  Servings 6

  Course

  Main Course

  Cuisine

  Lebanese

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  Description

  Fragrant brownish Lebanese rice and fish is comforting and you will be marveled at the flavors and textures. The light spicy bite it delivers is sublime. Sayadieh is impressive and elegant enough for entertaining. Serve it with lemon tahini sauce (taratour) and fattoush or your favorite leafy green salad.

  Ingredients

   

  1x2x3x

  • ▢ 2 kgs/ 4 lb 8 oz whole sea bass or any other large white fish such as snapper or cod gilled and scaled
  • ▢ 3 cups Jasmine rice
  • ▢ 8 medium sized inions
  • ▢ Sunflower oil for deep frying
  • ▢ 1 heaped teaspoon cumin powder
  • ▢ 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • ▢ 1 tablespoon salt
  • ▢ ¼ cups pine nuts
  • ▢ ¼ cup blanched almonds
  • ▢ 5 cups water
  • ▢ ½ cup all -purpose flour or as needed to dust the fish

  Instructions

   

  • Cut the fish into large chunks including the head.
  • Coat the fish: Coat the fish with flour on both sides and shake well excess flour.
  • Fry the fish: Heat oil in a large pot to an adequate frying temperature 180°C (350°F), add the fish chunks in batches, making sure that you use enough oil to cover your fish. Deep fry the fish until it is golden brown and cooked through. Remove fish from the oil and place on kitchen paper towel and drain.
  • For the fish stock: Transfer the fried heads of the fish to a pot, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and extract 5 cups of the stock (to cook the rice with later).
    
  • Julienne your onions: Cut each onion in half; place the halved onions flat side down onto the cutting board, beginning from one end, slicing long thin strips.
    
  • Rinse and drain the rice: Place the rice in a strainer and rinse under running cold water all over the rice and use your hands to agitate, until the water under the strainer turns clear.
  • Toast the pine nuts: Transfer 3/4 cup of the oil used to fry the fish in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and roast to a golden color. Remove with a slotted spoon, repeat with the almonds.
    
  • Add the onions to the same stockpot and cook for about ten minutes, stirring every few minutes. Continue to cook and scrape until onions turn dark brown in color without burning, this step is crucial to obtain a typical sayadieh dish.
    
  • Cook the rice: Add the drained rice and stir for 10 seconds, stir in fish stock; season with salt, cumin powder and white pepper. Stir with a fork to mix everything together. Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
    
  • Debone the fried fish.
  • Serve the sayadieh: Transfer the cooked rice onto a platter.
    
  • Top with fried fish chunks, garnish with toast the pine nuts and almonds.
    

  Notes

  Looking for more festive rice recipes, we got you covered!

  • Lebanese Rice and meat
  • Roasted Turkey with a Lebanese Twist
  • Shrimp Kabsa

  Nutrition

  Serving: 5persons

  Keyword fish, rice, sayadieh

  Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!