Mashuai
Mashuai is a flavorful Omani dish featuring roasted fish, typically kingfish or mackerel, stuffed with a fragrant mixture of rice, herbs, and spices. It's often cooked in a traditional clay oven or a modern oven until the skin is crispy and the flesh is tender and flaky.
🧂 Ingredients
- 1 kg Whole Kingfish or Mackerel(cleaned and scaled)
- 1.5 cups Basmati Rice(rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes)
- 1 large Onion(finely chopped)
- 4 cloves Garlic(minced)
- 1 inch piece Ginger(grated)
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 0.5 tsp Cumin Powder
- 0.5 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 0.25 tsp Cinnamon Powder
- 0.5 cup Fresh Coriander(chopped)
- 0.25 cup Fresh Mint(chopped)
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- to taste Salt
- to taste Black Pepper
- 1.5 cups Water(for cooking rice)
👨🍳 Instructions
- 1
Pat the cleaned fish dry. Make deep slashes on both sides of the fish.
- 2
In a bowl, combine the soaked and drained rice with chopped onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, chopped fresh coriander, chopped mint, lime juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- 3
Stuff the rice mixture generously into the cavity of the fish and also push some into the slashes made on the sides.
- 4
Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). If using a traditional oven, prepare it for roasting.
- 5
Place the stuffed fish on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or foil. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and season the outside of the fish with salt and pepper.
- 6
Roast the fish for 45-60 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the skin is golden brown and crispy. The rice inside should be tender. If the skin starts to brown too quickly, you can loosely tent it with foil.
- 7
Let the fish rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve hot, with the flavorful rice spilling out.
💡 Pro Tips
- ✓Ensure the fish is completely dry before stuffing and roasting for crispy skin.
- ✓Adjust the spices according to your preference.
- ✓If you don't have a whole fish, you can use large fish fillets, but the stuffing might be more challenging.
🔄 Variations
- Add a handful of raisins or pine nuts to the rice stuffing for extra texture and sweetness.
- Marinate the fish with lemon juice and spices for an hour before stuffing.