Sardines Sehnah

Sardines are no fad in this household. Indeed, I’ve made this recipe perhaps more than anything else this year, despite only relatively recently finding it; and it’s the sardine recipe against which all others are now found wanting (except for the sardine recipes I’ve already shared with you, which are, of course, amazing.)

With our typical zest for life and uncanny ability to stack multiple frantic events; my partner and I are moving house this month—and I’m shaking with excitement at having significantly better light, space for a real dinner table and couch, and—!!!—a gas stovetop. We’re also spending four days away at a wedding, there’s the dismal general election to process with gritted teeth to the point where I literally damaged one of my molars in a way that I suspect will be costly; I presented alongside many accomplished women at an event last Sunday, and on Thursday, my debut novel Hoods Landing launched officially in the UK with Pushkin Press. I’m aware that I’ve been an absolute deadbeat dad to this blog in 2026, not for want of trying—every word committed to pixel has been clawed towards me and hard-won—and I really should be doing more packing for the move right now. Once you’ve tried these Sardines Sehnah, you’ll understand how they sailed to the top of the priority heirarchy.

Now, I would really like to become the kind of writer whose notorious fabulousness speaks for itself, leaving me no longer fused with Instagram; on the other hand, cooks like Mohammed Moosa and his account chefjjskitchen are a heartfelt reason to keep that scrolling thumb tensed; I adore every one of his cooking videos, largely Omani recipes but jumping from cuisine to cuisine, and find them deeply inspirational. In the case of this recipe, it was Anchovies Sehnah that I repurposed to capitalise upon the long-running sardine stronghold in my household; it worked beautifully.

This renamed Sardines Sehnah has a musky flurry of chopped parsley with fierce flecks of chilli and preserved lemon, robust oregano, acid-soaked red onion, and a glossy layer of melted ghee or butter, banked down by tender, oily sardines. It’s a magnificent combination, one that—truly—even holds its own as a spiky salad without the sardines, particularly if you’ve ended up with an awful lot of parsley to get through.

I’ve said it before, but you either like sardines or you don’t and there’s no reason to try to talk you into it if you’re already clear on your boundaries and where they and sardines overlap. If you’re anywhere between on-the-fence and enthusiastic, however, this recipe is for you: it masks not the abundant oceanic flavour and richness of the sardines, but gives it plenty of aggression to spar with—double lemon, plenty of salt, the kickback jolt of chilli and the ebullient freshness of parsley and red onion. You may feel some suspicion towards the melted ghee; it isn’t an obstructive, throat-filling richness—the melted butter (and there’s not THAT much of it) subtly merges with the lemon juice to add depth and profundity to the dish without dragging it down.

One of the very, very few good things about having absolutely zero time to blog is that it does give me more run-up time to work on the recipes themselves, so when I say I make this all the time you really can believe me. It’s terrific on its own as a lively salad-type meal, but we most frequently have it over a fragrant pile of long-grain rice; though bread or some kind would be my next suggestion. I also recommend that you browse the chefjjskitchen account; you will end up taking notes.

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Sardines Sehnah

Having made this so many times, there is some flexion around ingredients, as you’ll see in the notes, but the below list is how I enjoy it most. This is a recipe adapted from Omani Chef Mohammed Moosa, whose recipe account chefjjskitchen is an ongoing source of culinary delight. As always, before shopping for these or any ingredients, I recommend checking out the Boycott Aotearoa zines so you know which brands to avoid.

  • 1 red onion
  • One large red chilli or two green jalapeño chillies
  • 50g flat-leaf parsley
  • Juice and zest of a lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 preserved lemon quarters
  • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
  • 1 x tin good sardines in oil (about 160g)
  • 2 tablespoons ghee or butter

1: Finely dice your red onion and place in a large mixing bowl.

2: Deseed—though, up to you really—the chilli, finely dice the red flesh, and add to the bowl with the onions. Next, roughly yet finely chop the 50g parsley (including plenty of the stems), and, you guessed it, add to the bowl with the onions.

3: Peel a few strips of lemon zest and finely dice it (or simply finely grate it, but I like the added texture here) and add to the bowl along with as much juice as you can extract from the lemons and the quarter teaspoon of salt; and give it a good stir.

4: Finely dice the flesh and skin of the two preserved lemon quarters, and stir into the onion-parsely-chilli mixture along with the teaspoon of oregano leaves. Peel the lid from your tin of sardines, and fork them in, stirring gently to combine. It’s fine if the sardines break up a little, but you don’t want them to entirely collapse into mush.

5: Finally, melt the two tablespoons of butter or ghee until just liquidised, pour it over the sardines and once again, stir gently. Serve immediately, otherwise this keeps well in the fridge for a day or two (it’s never lasted longer than that.) I’d let some of the fridge-chill come off it first before tucking in, though.

Serves 2, with rice or bread

Notes:

  • I sometimes use curly parsley, or a mix, but flat-leaf is my preference, and lots of it. I used a mix in these photos.
  • The chilli factor can be made more or less hot depending on what you choose; we have fairly limited varieties easily available at supermarkets here so the ones I end up using the most are squat green jalapeños, or long red cayennes. As you’ll see, I used a red chilli in the photos.
  • I recommend Diplomat, Unda or Valesta sardines—I’ve tried pretty much everything that’s available in the supermarkets and the cheaper ones really do taste cheaper, but still pleasant enough.
  • Dried oregano is also fine here.

what I’ve been listening to lately:

Over Yet by Hayley Williams; the way it crests that jittery wave of nervous verses only to crash into a blissful, chord-flipping chorus; it’s one of those songs that feels in dialogue with, say, The Look by Roxette, and I can’t quite define the genre beyond era and instruments involved, but it makes me feel almost queasy, it’s that good. Which is obviously unsurprising from Ms Williams!

Whatever Makes You Happy, by Sugababes. I mean, while we’re here in dialogue with The Look! Even though this doesn’t have that crunchy Richard X production that makes their Freak Like Me cover so staggering, it’s clear that the intention was to keep that lightning bolt zapping—the result is so fizzy and effervescent it makes me feel like baking soda scattered into a pan of boiling syrup. The Sugababes may have been a Ship of Theseus conundrum, but the ship was frequently undeniably excellent.

Country Girl by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; so ungainly and dramatic, I love the part where the organ chords start to sound like a large elderly dog has lowered itself onto the keys, or like someone is playing with both hands and has hoisted their foot up to press down on the keys for extra emphasis.

PS: Feeling hopeless is a luxury that serves no one but those perpetrating the hopelessness, despite the hopelessness being accelerated beyond comprehension daily. The people of Palestine need us now more than ever; aside from directly sending money when you see personal videos pop up as you scroll, you can support:

  • ReliefAid’s Gaza Appeal, who are connected with teams on the ground in Gaza.
  • Convoys of Good, another registered NZ charity distributing aid.
  • Please visit Chuffed—they’re one of the few spaces providing families in Palestine with official crowd-funding platforms, as well as for other urgent causes.
  • As I’ve already mentioned, you can also demonstrate your control and power through the absence of your dollars. Boycott Zine Aotearoa has helpfully put together two comprehensive free zines so you can quickly see who to studiously avoid when buying food, drinks, household items and beauty products.
  • You can also check out the Pro-Palestine Business Aotearoa account by the same people for a very solid list of places to actively focus your consumer attention on.
The message "If you're not pro-palestine don't read my food blog" in red font against a light pink background.

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