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Jamaica, Americas

Ackee and Saltfish

Jamaica's national breakfast: desalted salt cod sautéed with peppers and onion, then folded with soft, buttery canned ackee.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time48 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsThis recipe uses canned ackee only. Unripe raw ackee (pods that have not split open naturally on the tree) contains a natural toxin, hypoglycin A, that can cause severe vomiting and dangerously low blood sugar, and the black seeds and pink membrane are toxic even in ripe fruit. Canned ackee is already cleaned and cooked, so it only needs heating.

Method

  1. Rinse the saltfish under cold running water to wash off the surface salt. Put it in a 18 cm pot, cover with plenty of cold water, bring to the boil on high heat and boil for . Drain, cover with fresh cold water and boil again for . Taste a small flake: it should be pleasantly salty, like a well-seasoned dish, not harsh. If it is still very salty, boil it once more in fresh water.

    Add in this stepSaltfish (boneless salt cod) 150 g

    high heat

  2. Drain and let the fish cool until you can handle it. Remove any skin and bones (run your fingertips over it to find the small ones), then break it into bite-size flakes about 2 cm long. Don't shred it into threads; small chunks give a better texture.

  3. While the fish cools, prepare the vegetables: slice the onion thinly, chop the garlic finely, cut the spring onions into 1 cm pieces (keep the green tops separate), dice the tomato into 1 cm cubes and cut the bell pepper into thin strips. Scotch bonnet is very hot, so wear gloves or wash your hands straight after; remove the seeds and white ribs and chop it very finely. Tip the canned ackee into a sieve, drain it gently and rinse briefly; handle it like soft scrambled egg.

  4. Heat the oil in a 24 cm frying pan on medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, spring onion whites, bell pepper, scotch bonnet and thyme and cook for , stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent but not browned.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil 1½ tbspOnion 1Garlic cloves 2Spring onions (scallions) 1½Green or red bell pepper ½Scotch bonnet pepper ¼Fresh thyme sprigs 2

    medium heat

  5. Add the tomato and the flaked saltfish and cook for , stirring now and then, until the tomato softens into a light sauce and the fish is hot. Season with the black pepper; don't add salt yet, the fish brings plenty.

    Add in this stepTomato 1Ground black pepper ¼ tsp

  6. Turn the heat down to medium-low heat, spoon the ackee on top and fold it in very gently with a spatula, lifting from the bottom just 2 or 3 times. Heat for until the ackee is hot through; it is already cooked, so it only needs warming. Remove the thyme stems, taste, scatter over the green spring onion tops and serve straight away.

    Add in this stepCanned ackee, drained 260 gSpring onions (scallions) ½

    medium-low heat

Cook's tip

Serve with fried dumplings, boiled green bananas, roast breadfruit or simply rice and avocado. If you can't find salt cod, salted pollock works the same way. Stir as little as possible once the ackee is in, or it turns to mush.

Cooking it at camp

Desalt and flake the saltfish at home and carry it chilled in a sealed container. At the campsite it is a quick one-pan breakfast on a gas burner; keep the flame moderate because thin camping pans scorch easily, and don't forget a can opener for the ackee.