Jamaican Ackee and Saltfish

By Sprig Originals ✓ · with credit

Adapted from seasonedskilletblog.com

Jamaica's national dish: salt cod simmered until mellow, then flaked into a skillet of onion, sweet peppers, tomato and thyme with buttery ackee folded through at the end. Savoury, gently spicy and quick enough for breakfast, but good at any hour.

Ingredients

• 1 lb salted cod (saltfish)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium onion, julienned
• 1/4 orange bell pepper, julienned
• 1/4 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 small tomato, cut into thin wedges
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 440ml can ackee, drained
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse the salt cod under cold running water, then drop it into a pot of unsalted water and boil for 10 minutes. Taste a small piece: if it is still aggressively salty, drain, cover with fresh water and boil again for another 10 minutes.
2. Drain the cod and let it cool enough to handle. Pull out any skin and bones, then flake the flesh into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
3. Tip the canned ackee into a strainer, drain off the brine and rinse gently under cool water. For firmer arils, slip them into simmering water for 2–3 minutes, then drain carefully and set aside — handle them as little as possible so they stay whole.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, orange and red bell peppers, tomato wedges, thyme sprigs and the whole scotch bonnet. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns translucent and everything smells fragrant.
5. Add the flaked saltfish and cook for 2–3 minutes, tossing so the fish picks up the oil and the flavours of the peppers and thyme.
6. Add the ackee and the black pepper. Fold it through with a gentle lifting motion rather than stirring, so the arils stay intact, and warm through for 3–5 minutes.
7. Fish out the thyme stems and the scotch bonnet, taste and add more black pepper if needed. Serve hot with fried dumplings, boiled green banana, breadfruit or hard dough bread.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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