Thiou

Tiouwo

Also: Tiou, Soupou kandia (when okra-based)

A Senegalese tomato-and-onion stew built around fish or meat and served over plain white rice.

Identity criteria

1A sauce-based stew, not a one-pot rice dish — the rice is cooked separately and the thiou is ladled over it
2A tomato-and-onion foundation defines the sauce
3Contains fish or meat as the central protein
4Served with white rice as the standard accompaniment

Base

White rice, served separatelyessential

Vegetables such as carrot, cassava, eggplantoptional

Protein

Fish or meatessential

Aromatics

Onionessential

Seasoning

Fermented seasoning (netetou) and chilioptional

Stewing a tomato-onion sauce with protein: Produces the savory red sauce that defines a thiou
Serving sauce over separately cooked rice: Distinguishes thiou from ceeb dishes where rice cooks in the sauce

savorytomato-richumami

Soft stewed protein in a thin-to-medium tomato sauce over fluffy rice

A quick, everyday Senegalese family meal — the go-to weekday alternative to the more elaborate ceeb dishes.

year-round

Fish → Beef or chickenadmissible
A common and accepted variation
Tomato base → Peanut baseinadmissible
Changes the dish into a different stew (e.g., mafé), not a thiou

Confusing it with thiéboudienne, where rice cooks in the sauce — thiou keeps rice separate
Skipping the fermented netetou seasoning that gives Senegalese depth

A staple everyday stew of Senegalese home cooking, served over rice across the country.

Claimed by: Senegal

Confidence: high