Sprig Originals's kitchen / Jamaican Ackee and Saltfish
Jamaican Ackee and Saltfish
By Sprig Originals · with credit
Adapted from myforkinglife.com
Worked out from this recipe's ingredients. If you're cooking for an allergy, always read the full ingredient list.
Jamaica's national dish: flakes of salted cod sautéed with onion, scallion, thyme and scotch bonnet, then folded through buttery ackee. A savoury, gently fiery breakfast that's just as good for dinner.
Ingredients
Saltfish
- 8 oz salted cod, boned
Skillet
- 2 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
- 1 roma tomato, chopped
- 15 oz can ackee, drained
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Draw the salt out of the cod. The easy route: cover it with cold water and leave it overnight in the fridge, drain, then boil it in fresh water for about 10 minutes and drain again. Short on time? Skip the soak and boil it in fresh water 2 to 3 times, 8 to 10 minutes each, tasting a flake after each round until it's pleasantly savoury rather than salty.
- Once the fish is cool enough to handle, pull it apart into small flakes with your fingers, checking for any stray bones or skin. Set aside.
- Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, scallions, thyme leaves and scotch bonnet and cook, stirring now and then, for 3 to 4 minutes until the onion has softened and smells sweet.
- Add the flaked saltfish and stir for 1 minute so it picks up the oil and seasonings.
- Scatter in the chopped tomato, then add the drained ackee. Fold it through very gently — ackee is delicate and turns to mush if you stir hard — and cook 3 to 4 minutes until everything is hot through.
- Season with the black pepper, taste, and serve straight away while steaming.
- Serve hot with fried dumplings, boiled green banana, breadfruit or plain white rice.
Chef's tips
- Only ever use canned or properly prepared ackee — the drained canned kind here is already safe and cooked, so it just needs warming.
- Fold, don't stir. Use a spatula and turn the pan contents over a few times so the ackee stays in soft, distinct pieces.
- Taste a flake of cod before it goes in the pan. If it's still sharply salty, give it one more boil — you can't fix over-salted ackee afterwards.
- Leave the scotch bonnet whole and just bruise it in the pan for perfume without the burn, then lift it out before serving.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
185calories
19gprotein
4gcarbs
11gfat
Estimates only — values vary with brands and portions.
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