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Sambaza

Name: Sambaza
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Rwanda
Ingredients: 400g Smelt; 4 tbsp All-purpose flour; 1 tsp Salt; To taste Oil for frying; 1 Lemon; 1 Chili pepper

Snack

⏱ 30 min

👥 Serves 4

Difficulty ⭐

Small fish from Lake Kivu fried whole and crisp — Rwanda's lakeside specialty.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Sambaza are small sardine-like fish from Lake Kivu in western Rwanda, known for the fishermen who sing as they fish at night. They're salted whole, fried crisp, and eaten with lemon or chili sauce. They're the specialty of the lakeside towns of Gisenyi and Kibuye.

🌆 Where it's eaten: At a lakeside eatery on Lake Kivu, freshly fried little fish are piled in a basket as the lights of fishing boats glimmer far out on the lake.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 4)

Smelt 400g
All-purpose flour 4 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Oil for frying To taste
Lemon 1
Chili pepper 1

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Rinse the small fish and pat dry.
Sprinkle with salt and dust with flour.
Fry in 180°C oil for 3 minutes until crisp.
Mix the chopped chili with lemon juice.
Serve alongside the fried fish.

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