Last Updated on June 13, 2022
Lebanese Samkeh Harra Recipe
Folks in the city of Tripoli/Mina in Lebanon are well known for their seafood . And on top of the pyramid lays “Samke Harra.” Translated from Arabic, it simply means spicy fish. This is a specialty Lebanese Samkeh Harra Recipe where a baked fish is baked, then covered with a mouth-watering tangy, garlicky, spicy and hearty Tahini sauce . For those who are not familiar with Tahini, it’s a paste made from crushing/blending roasted sesame seeds and can be easily purchased online these days.
Tahini Fish Recipe
The fish can be filets or whole (scaled). In the US, we found that the best fish for this recipe is the real Red Snapper, followed by Ling Cod or any pacific cod type of fish. I’ve had it made with Salmon before and it wasn’t as good, the strong Salmon flavor just didn’t go well with the Tahini.
Tahini Paste Brand for Lebanese Samkeh Harra Recipe
We’ve tried several Tahini/sesame paste brands, and the old school Lebanese Alkanater brand stands out to us above the rest.
I’ve also personally tried Samke Harra in many restaurants in Lebanon and outside made in different styles, and the best method that I liked is the one by the folks from El-Mina, featured here. Sorry my Beirutis. And if you visit Tipoli, El-Mina in Lebanon, make sure to pass by Abou Fadi’s restaurant. It carries the name of it’s late owner who himself was a fisherman. Abou Fadi made the best Samke Harra sandwiches hands down at least back in the day, because he always used fresh fish and had a special touch in making his Tahini sauce. Fortunately we found this youtube video about the Abu Fadi restaurant in Tripoli El-Mina, recorded by Dirty Kitchen Secrets for the curious.
Lebanese Samkeh Harra Spicy Tahini Fish Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Lbs Red Snapper or pacific cod
- 20 cloves garlic
- 1 cup Tahini Paste
- 1 cup pine nuts raw
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley finely chopped
- 1.5 cups Lemon Juice
- 4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 6 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Baking the Fish
- If necessary, rub the fish with white vinegar and salt then rinse with cold water in order to tame down any smell.
- If using whole scaled fish, cut slits in it prior to baking. Alternatively you can also use fish filets.
- Rub fish with a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle some lemon juice on it. If you’re cooking a whole scaled fish, insert lemon slices inside the fish for flavoring.
- Place fish on olive oil-greased cooking tray and bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes.
Making the Garnish
- In a small frying pan, mix 1 cup of pine nuts with 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil and fry on medium heat for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Be careful as they can burn very fast.
- Set aside half of the fried pine nuts for garnish. And the other half crush them into a mortal and pestle and use them in making the sauce.
Making the Sauce
- In a deep sauce pan, ad the crushed garlic, lemon juice, the Tahini paste, water, salt, coriander and chili powder. Mix well and cook on medium heat while stirring constantly (very important so they don’t stick or burn) until it boils then lower the heat.
- Crush half of the pine nuts in a mortar and pestle then add them to the sauce pan mixing well then put on simmer.
Serving
- Lay the baked fish in a deep serving platter, pour the sauce on top, garnish with the finely chopped parsley and browned pine nuts. Serve hot with pita bread. This goes well with a side of Hummus and Tabbouleh Salad and enjoy.
[…] Recipe here. […]
I tried this recipe tonight. I used 4 pounds of cod. The fish and the sauce were fantastic, but after the meal, I still have a whole quart of sauce left over (I used the minimum amounts of all liquids: 1.5 cups lemon juice, 4 cups water, 1 cup tahini). Do you have suggestions on what to do with all the extra sauce?
Hi George congratulations on your success with the Spicy Tahini Fish recipe. Regarding the leftover sauce, one thing you can do is to toast some pita bread and use it as a dip for the bread.
Which other fish can I use? I can´t find so easily a Red Snapper in Germany. Thanks!
Andrea any COD type of fish would do it. If you can’t find them you can try other white fish filets (ie not salmon, not tuna, but anything with white meat).
Just to make it clear… Harra is not translated as Spicy, To be straight forward HARRA means Feces or another word would be excrement in Arabic. Just wanted to make it clear. I thought this recipe was joking but might have just been a lost in translation accident….
Hi Stephen – the word you’re referring to is Khara. On the other hand, Harra (without the K) in Arabic means Hot and Spicy.
Shukran ya mama:)
Your recipes are mouth watering and simple. my background is
eastern european but must say , hands down; Arabs have the
best and healthiest foods. nuts , greens, pomegranate
are superfoods.
looking forward to trying more recipes from you
Thank you for the note Julia and I’m glad you’re enjoying the site and recipes.
Thanks for the amazing recipes, just to get to your attention, this is not called “Samke harra”, this is called “Tajin”.
Great to hear from you Sare and I’m glad you got to try this dish. I just saw your recipe and looks good. Thanks for the reference at the end of the article. If it’s not too much trouble I’d appreciate you making the Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen into a link to our website 🙂 Tashakkur
Anyone there, is there a recipe for samke harra that calls for cilantro instead of parsley? thanks