Aye Chef - Cooking with style

Hrayme (Hebrew: חריימה) is a traditional North African dish consisting of meaty sea fish and a red hot sauce. This dish mostly shows at Libyan or Tunisian Jewish cuisine.

For this dish it is best advised to pick fishes with a lot of meat, such as:
Epinephelus (לוקוס), Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (פלמידה לבנה), Mullet (בורי) or a Nile perch (נסיכת הנילוס).


It is not very difficult to prepare, but beware, this dish is very spicy so if you are not into this kind of food, don't try it. Also, it is very important to choose fresh fish of good quality, since otherwise the flavor will be somewhat missing.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 fish (2-3 kg)
1/2 cup corn oil
6 tablespoons filfel chuma
3 tablespoons paprika, submerged in olive oil
10 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon caraway seeds, minced
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon salt
4 tomatoes, crushed
3 cups water or tomato juice
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
3/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Clean the fish. Cut slices, with the bone, of about 1.5 cm. Unless you like the head, remove it. Put aside.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a wide large frying pan, then add filfel chuma and all dry spices. Stir for 1 minute. Add garlic and stir for another 3 minutes. Add rest of the ingredients, bring to boil and cook over small flame for 10 minutes. If you like the head, add it and continue to cook for 20 more minutes. Add the fish, bring to second boil, cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and leave covered for 20 minutes. When serving, squeeze some lemon juice to taste.

Original recipe by: Rafi Cohen.