Greek Rice With Fish (Psaropilafo Tis Kivelis)

 

This is a delicious dish, using any fish that is suitable for soups, e.g. sea bass, trout, monk fish or a combination of these. In Greek this is called Kiveli's fish rice dish. Kiveli (or Kyveli)was a famous lady of the Greek theatre last century - George Papandreou, grandfather of our present Prime Minister, was her third husband and she his second. You can see a photo of her at the bottom of this post. Kiveli created this dish one day when she had limited ingredients and had to prepare a meal for a lot of people. The meal was a success - people asked for seconds! - and the dish was thus named after her.

Ingredients

1 kg fish – this should be fish suitable for soup, e.g. sea bass, monk fish, trout or a combination of these)

2 carrots cut into 3 pieces each

4 onions sliced

4 sprigs celery leaves

1 bay leaf

100 ml extra virgin oil

1½ cups pilaf rice

3 tbsp butter (2 for sauce, 1 for rice)

1 cup milk

2 tbsp flour

1 egg yolk

Preparation

Clean and wash the fish.

Boil the carrots, onions, bay leaf, celery leaves and oil for 30 minutes.

Add the fish and continue boiling for another 10 minutes approx. – the fish is ready when the flesh can be easily removed from the bone.

Remove the fish and set aside.

Remove 3 cups of liquid from the pan and pass through a very fine sieve.

Put this in a pan and add the 1½ cups of pilaf rice and 1 tbsp butter, bring to the boil and then simmer at a very low heat for 15 minutes.

Pass the remaining liquid in the pan through a thick sieve into a bowl.

For the Sauce

Place the 2 tbsp butter in a pan and melt.

Add the flour and stir briskly for approx. minutes.

Add the milk and continue stirring.

When it starts to thicken, add enough of the liquid in the bowl to make a consistent sauce – neither too thick nor too thin.

Add the egg yolk and stir briskly for approx. 1 minute.

Remove from the heat.

Remove the bones from the fish and cut into large portions.

Serve the pilaf rice on a large dish and spread 2-3 spoonfuls of the sauce on top.

Place the fish on top.

Spread another 5-6 spoonfuls of sauce on top.

The remaining sauce can be set aside for anyone who wishes to add more.

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Authentic Greek Recipes