Rohu

Labeo rohita · rui

The daily fish of a fish-and-rice people.

What it is

Rohu is a large freshwater carp — the everyday fish of Bengal, meatier and far less oily than the prized hilsa, with firm white flesh. It is bony, like most of the region's river fish, but the bones are managed rather than feared. The daily rui to hilsa's festival.

Where it comes from

It is farmed and fished across the rivers and ponds of Bengal and the wider east, and is one of the staple carps of the fish-and-rice civilisation the River Delta is built on. Where hilsa is the occasion, rohu is the ordinary, beloved everyday.

What it's called

Rohu · rui (Bengali) · rui maach. Botanically Labeo rohita.

In the kitchen

Cut into steaks and cooked in the everyday Bengali repertoire — the light jhol, the richer kalia, sour tenga, or simply fried — usually lightly turmeric-and-salt rubbed and fried first. Its firm flesh holds up to a gravy better than the delicate hilsa. The head is prized for dishes of its own.

What we know about the claims

As a freshwater fish, rohu brings good protein and some omega-3s — a wholesome everyday food. The honest caution is the bones, eaten with the usual care.

Choosing and buying

Fresh or frozen in South Asian grocers serving Bengali communities (UK and US); frozen rohu steaks are common. Any firm freshwater fish, or trout, substitutes for its role in a jhol.