That Translator Can Cook: Mutabbaq Samak
Fried fish stuffed with onions and spices, and served over rice that’s been cooked in spiced fish stock.
I've never had this dish, but after reading about the type of fish typically used in it, I want to try it. They look delicious before you add the spices to them. *wipes drool*
Image Source: Kuwait Times
A significant portion of Kuwaiti cuisine is made up of fish/seafood. The fish mainly used is zubaidi (pomfret), the ‘zubaidi’ comes from the Arabic word ‘zubda,’ which makes sense since the pomfret is a type of butterfish. Hamour (grouper) is also a popular fish used in Kuwaiti cuisine. Samak means ‘fish,’ and the name of mutabbaq samak can change based on the fish used, i.e. mutabbaq zubaidi or mutabbaq hamour. The picture to the right shows freshly-caught pomfret. Yum!
For those of you who can’t eat seafood for medical reasons or because you loathe seafood, you may skip past these 11 evidence-based health benefits of eating fish:
They are high in important nutrients (high-quality protein, iodine, etc.)
They may lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes
They contain nutrients crucial during development (i.e. omega-3 fatty acids)
They may boost brain health
They may help prevent and treat depression
They are good dietary sources of vitamin D
They may reduce your risk of autoimmune diseases
They may help prevent asthma in children
They may protect your vision in old age
They may improve sleep quality
They are delicious and easy to prepare-not a health benefit, but worth mentioning 😉
Here is how to make this delicious fish and rice! The picture and recipe belong to Soha Ibrahim (سهى ابراهيم).
Ingredients
3 cups of rice, increase the amount depending on the number of people being served
1 whole fish, cleaned, butterflied, salted, and scaled
The Fish’s Filling:
1 bunch of parsley, finely minced
1/2 cup of currants or to taste
2 onions, chopped
Dried limes (or as they're known as in Iraq, “noomi basra”) ground in a grinder
Salt
Turmeric
Steps
Boil the rice and add turmeric and salt to the boiling water. Dissolve the spices in the water and let the rice simmer on the back burner.
Fry the fish in a frying pan; fry each side in a bit of fish oil. Start roasting the onions with the parsley and currants, then add the ground dried lime and a little bit of salt.
Next, open the fish up after frying it, stuff it with half of the filling, and close it up.
As for the rest of the filling, sprinkle it on the rice. Bon appetit!
Translators’ Discussion
Now I have to admit, I took some creative liberties with this one, and we’ll discuss them here.
For the rice measurements, the recipe said, “او حسب العدد المطلوب” but I said, “increase the amount depending on the number of people being served.” How do you feel about a stretch like this?
When describing how to prepare the fish, the recipe said, “مفتوحه من الوسط.” I could have said ‘open from the belly’, but I said ‘butterflied’ instead because it encompasses the gutting and deboning that should also happen before cooking and stuffing it. Does it enhance the translation or add something unnecessary?
When talking about cooking the rice, the recipe said to let the rice simmer ‘على جانب’. I could have said ‘to the side,’ but I decided to say ‘on the back burner’ to be clever, and because the back burner is more out of the way than the next to the one I’m using. Does add too much to the target text? Is it a good/forgivable addition?