Jamaican Ackee and Saltfish Recipe
Ackee and Saltfish on stove
The most famous of all Jamaican recipes is ackee and saltfish (codfish). Ackee and saltfish is considered Jamaica’s national dish. Ackee is a fruit of West African origin. It made its way to Jamaica around 1798. Ackee and saltfish is usually served as a breakfast dish but can be eaten for lunch, or dinner.
You must be careful if preparing this dish with the raw fruit from the tree. Raw ackee can be poisonous if ingested. You should never eat the raw fruit under any circumstances. You must make sure the fruit is ripe (when the pods open, and the seeds are exposed) before it is harvested for consumption. Then it should be cleaned by removing the seeds and the stringy pieces attached to the inside of the fruit. It should then be boiled before cooking.
There is however canned ackee which the majority of people in Europe, and the USA use. Canned ackee can be found at Walmart and many local supermarkets.
Jamaican Ackee And Saltfish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb saltfish (codfish)
- 1 can ackee (drained)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil can be substituted with olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 whole scotch bonnet pepper (chopped and de-seeded) optional if you dont like hot peppers
- 1 whole tomato sliced in half moon slices
- 1 whole yellow onion sliced in half moon slices
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (dried) can be substituted with 1 tsp bottled thyme
- 1 whole green pepper chopped
Instructions
- Soak the saltfish in cold water for about 1 ½ hr, then place in a medium-sized saucepan filled with water and boil for about ½ hr. Remove the saltfish from the saucepan, then remove all bones and break the saltfish into flakes.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil to a medium-sized frying pan and let hear for about 3 minutes until hot. Add your, saltfish, chopped onions. garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, and green pepper to the heated oil, and sauté for approx. 8 minutes over a medium flame.
- Add your drained ackee and 1 tablespoon of black pepper, tomato and your thyme to the frying pan and let cook for approximately 15 minutes over a medium flame.
Notes
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Served with boiled green bananas and boiled or fried dumplings. To reduce sodium, boil salt fish (codfish) until salt dissipates.
Nutrition