Hi Aubrey, 
 
I think this is a practical decision you have to make. You know better, but I essentially don't think the dry fish is actually "fried". i.e like deep fried but it is common practice to pour oil in a pan, throw in tomatoes and onions and actually 'fry' them (often small quantities relative to the amount of oil and end up being actually fried), then throw in the chopped leaves, which may actually be 'fried" the same way as onions and tomatoes or very little-fried as the small amount of oil is swamped by the wash water and the internal water of the leaves which makes the whole process a "boiling" rather than a "frying" one. I imagine the dry fish is thrown in after the leaves and the entire dish is churned and mixed for a short time before the dish is served. The fish may be also be pre-washed or soaked in water, further adding water to the cooking mix and swamping out the "frying" conditions. Plain water may also be added to the boiling
 mix  which definitely turns the process a "boiling" one. If this description of the cooking process fits your situation, I would say: the onions and tomatoes are fried, the leaves are fried or boiled based on the amount of oil and whether leaves were added with considerable wash water, and the dry fish definitely just boiled. This is how I have approached this type of challenge. I always look at USDA factors as better than nothing but of narrow applicability to African food preparation methods. As it is those factors are for fresh rather than dry fish. 
 
I hope this helps and sorry if I have misunderstood your question or situation. 

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Abdelrahman Lubowa
FOOD SCIENTIST/NUTRITIONIST
P.O. Box 26402 Kampala, Uganda
Mob Tel 256-772-495-644
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________________________________
 From: "Bauck, Aubrey" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Wednesday, 7 August 2013, 18:13
Subject: 
  

Dear All,

I am working on dietary data from Tanzania, and have a question regarding nutrient retention factors. 

I have been applying nutrient retention factors from the USDA (release 6) based on cooking method to the food ingredients in my recipes, and then summing nutrient totals for the recipe. I have run into a problem with several dried fish recipes made frequently in Tanzania. Many of these recipes first fry the fish with some vegetables, and then boil the mixture. I am not sure how to account for this when applying retention factors. There are no factors that I can find for a stir-fry/boil cooking method. Also, the USDA's retention factors are based off of cooking raw fish, so am unsure if these could even be used for a dried fish. I was wondering if anybody had any wisdom about what to do when calculating nutrient values for these kinds of recipes. Thank you for your help.

Regards,

Aubrey Bauck
MSPH 2014, Human Nutrition
Department of International Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

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