Fried Fish
SAMAK MAQLI
The Mediterranean waters bordering Lebanon yield many succulent fish. Of these, the Lebanese prefer one called the Sultan Ibrahim which they usually pan-fry and serve piping hot with a sauce. Fish sauces include mayonnaise, taratour bi taheeni (a sesame flavored sauce), or a mixture of pine nuts crushed well together with lemon juice, garlic and salt. Lemon wedges always accompany fish, no matter what other sauce is served.
Clean and scale the fish. Leave the head, but remove the eyes. Sprinkle inside and out with salt. Place the salted fish in the refrigerator for several hours. Let it return to room temperature before cooking. Dredge fish in flour. Fry in half inch olive oil until browned, shaking pan gently during cooking to prevent sticking. Turn fish once. Fry pieces of Arabic bread in the same oil and use them to garnish the fish, along with radishes and green onions.
Fish is often served with bits of fried vegetables such as squash, eggplant or cauliflower. It also combines well with hummus bi taheeni and baba ghannouj.
Lebanese Broiled Fish
Samak Mashwi
Beautifully decorated whole baked fish is a favorite party dish.
Clean a large, nicely formed fish well, leaving on the head but removing the eyes. Salt and chill, as in previous recipe. Sprinkle it with olive oil and rub it well into the flesh. Wrap the fish completely in unglazed paper. Bake in a hot oven until the flesh is white. Remove paper and transfer to serving platter. Garnish lavishly with green pickles cut in fan shapes, mayonaise, sliced green and black olives, parsley, and bits of pimento. Accompany with bowls of taratour sauce or mayonnaise and slices of lemon.
Fish Stew
YAKHNIT EL SAMAK
1 fish weighing about 2 Ibs.
1 cup sliced onions
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp. saffron
1 tsp. salt
Clean and salt fish several hours ahead of time. Cook fish lightly in olive oil. Remove and place in saucepan. Fry onions in same oil until browned. Drain onions well to remove excess oil. Mix the fried onions, salt, saffron and lemon juice. Add them to the fish in the saucepan with enough water to cover. Simmer gently until the fish is very tender. Lift out the fish and remove the flesh from the bones. Taste the sauce and add seasonings. Lay the fish fillets on a platter and pour the sauce over them. Serve cold, accompanied by Riz Bi Samak.
Fish Cooked in Sesame Sauce
SAMAK TAJIN or SAMAK BI TAHEENI
1 fish weighing about 2 lbs.
1 1/2 cups taheeni (sesame oil)
1 1/2 CupS chopped onion
1 cup olive oil
3/4 Cup lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp. salt
Water
Clean and salt fish. Refrigerate for several hours. Allow it to return to room temperature, sprinkle with olive oil and bake in moderate oven until flesh seems to flake apart easily under a fork. Meanwhile fry onions in olive oil until yellow. Beat lemon juice and water slowly into the taheeni, adding more lemon juice to taste if necessary. The taheeni sauce will become very creamy. Mix onions into sauce, pour over the baked fish and return it to the oven. Bake about 20 minutes in moderate oven. Some of the sauce will be absorbed into the fish and the onions will be very well cooked. Serve this dish cold.

Fish Stew with Red Pepper
YAKHNIT EL SAMAK EL HARRAH
1 medium sized fish
1 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh kizbara (coriander)
1/4 tsp. red pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice
Clean and salt fish several hours before serving time. Cut it into pieces. Fry fish gently in oil for five minutes. Separate flesh from the bones, head and skin. Set the fillets aside and boil the remainder in the water for 30 minutes. Drain off the broth and reserve. Fry chopped onions and garlic in the oil in which the fish was fried. Drain off excess oil. To the onions add the fish broth, the pieces of fried fish, salt, pepper, kizbara and cumin. Simmer this mixture half an hour. Add lemon juice. Add salt and more lemon juice according to taste. Serve this dish cold.

Rice for Fish
RIZ BI SAMAK
2 cups uncooked rice
3/4 cup oil
1 cup sliced onions
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 tsp. saffron
1 tsp. salt
Water
Soak rice in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Heat oil which may be fresh olive oil or the oil remaining after preparing Yakhnit el Samak. Fry pine nuts in oil until slightly browned. Remove nuts. Add rice to oil along with salt and stir it thoroughly. Add 2 1/2 cups water and saffron. Simmer rice gently, covered, on low fire until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Turn rice onto a platter. Sprinkle with fried onions and pine kernels and serve it as the accompaniment to Yakhnit el Samak. The rice may be garnished with pieces of any fried fish and served with a salad of cabbage, lettuce or radishes.