Fish Rolls: How to Make Cameroon Fish Rolls

When I had fish rolls as a kid they sucked! My mom never made fish rolls, and I never liked the ones I bought from street vendors and fancy restaurants! Then I grew up and made a few friends from Cameroon that made awesome fish rolls; nothing like what I had as a kid. A perfect combination of a crisp and light crust with a savory fish filling. Let me tell you the story of how I shifted from hating fish rolls and share the fish roll recipe that made me fall in love with them.

All church meant to me as a kid,  was that it was dreadfully long and boring especially after the service when I would have to wait for my parents to have their after church meetings. Sometimes those after-church meetings lasted longer than the church service itself and my sisters and I would have to wait for hours to start the one hour journey it took us to get home. Thankfully, the wait was bearable because I got to hang out with the other kids that were forced to wait as well. Our hang out spot was a little kiosk right beside the church that sold soft drinks aka “minerals” and light snacks. One of the snacks commonly sold in said kiosk was fish rolls, a snack staple I absolutely hated!!! However, they seemed like a fancy snack to get; the fish rolls being one of the more expensive snacks (child in the 90’s type of expensive), and everyone seemed to like them a lot. It was a thick dense dough roll with a sliver (if at all any) of the driest mackerel you’ve ever tasted. Even now, memories of me trying to love those rolls make me shudder.

Well, years later I met some lovely Cameroonian girls in college, and one day, one of them offered me a fish roll. Before I saw what she had to offer, I cringed at the memory of the fish rolls I remembered as a kid, and tried to figure out how many bites I would need to endure to be polite. When she presented the Cameroon fish rolls, they looked absolutely nothing like what I had as a child, and a bite of these “new” fish rolls changed my heart towards fish rolls all together.

How to Make Cameroon Fish Roll

Ingredients for the Filling

• 1/2 a pound (about 227 grams) of fish filet (use any fish of your choice; I tend to use Mackerel  fish)
• 1/2 a red onion chopped
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper

Ingredients for the Dough

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of  baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of  yeast
• 1 teaspoon of  sugar
• 1/2 a  teaspoon of  salt
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water
• Oil for deep frying

How to Prepare the Filling: 

1. Season the fish filet with salt and pepper and allow it to marinate for 1 hour
2. After the fish has marinated, place the fish in a steamer with the onions and steam for 10 minutes.
3. Once the fish is done smash the fish with the onions. Adjust the seasoning at this point you you taste. You may add other spices and herbs as well.

How to Make the Dough

1. Mix 1 cup of water, sugar and yeast and set aside for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder, and create a small well in the flour mixture.
3. Pour in the frothy liquid ingredients and the butter and mix well with the flour to form a dough.The dough should be smooth and soft but not too sticky to handle.
4. You may add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky or add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is too stiff (I added 2 additional tablespoons of water to get the perfect texture).
5. Knead the dough gently for 2 minutes, and set aside to rise for 45 minutes.
6. Once the dough about doubles in size, divide into 10 equal pieces.
7. Roll the dough into oval discs about 1/8th of an inch thick
8. On one of the narrow ends of the oval disc, place one tablespoon of the fish stuffing and seal as shown
9. Deep fry each fish roll in hot oil (about 365 degree F) in a pan until golden brown. Serve warm

These Cameroon fish rolls are absolutely scrumptious, try it!

Cameroon Fish Roll Nutrition

The nutritional information for a serving of cameroon fish roll (meaning one roll) is shown below with the assumption of 10% oil  retention on deep fried foods.

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5 from 2 votes

Fish Roll Recipe (How to Make Cameroon Fish Rolls)

Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside; these scrumptious fish rolls are a great Cameroonian snack that goes perfect with tea.

Prep Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: Cameroonian Cuisine

Servings: 10

Calories: 228kcal

Author: Yummy Medley

Ingredients

• *For the Filling*
• 1/2 a pound of fish filet
• 1/2 a red onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• *For the Dough*
• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

• To make the filling, season the fish filet with salt and pepper and allow it to marinate for 1 hour. After the fish has marinated, place the fish in a steamer with the onions and steam for 10 minutes. Once the fish is done smash the fish with the onions. Adjust the seasoning at this point you you taste. You may add other spices and herbs as well.
• To make the dough, mix 1 cup of water, sugar and yeast and set aside for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder, and create a small well in the flour mixture. Pour in the frothy liquid ingredients and the butter and mix well with the flour to form a dough. The dough should be smooth and soft but not too sticky to handle. You may add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky or add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is too stiff. I added 2 additional tablespoons of water to get the perfect texture. Knead the dough gently for 2 minutes, and set aside to rise for 45 minutes.
• Once the dough about doubles in size, divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll the dough into oval discs about 1/8th inch thick. On one of the narrow ends of the oval disc, place on tablespoon of the fish stuffing and seal as shown above.
• Deep fry each fish roll in a hot oil (about 365 degree F) until golden brown. Serve warm