I had a craving for this Jamaican dish when I found out that ackee is low carb. Its rather like an avacado in that respect. Lots of fat and low in carbs. Its a unique fruit that looks and has the texture of scrambled eggs, but tastes like a cross between fresh peas and young corn. And an easy dish to make! Just a few ingredients that come together to make a dish perfect for summer.
Just a heads up on the recipe – you’ll need to soak the salted fish about a day ahead of time and when handling the ackee, be gentle. Think of it as handling very delicate scrambled eggs.
Ackee and Saltfish
Ingredients
- 1 540 ml can of ackee drained and rinsed in a strainer with water (be gentle!)
- Salt fish enough to make about 1 c / half a pound worth
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno chopped fine
- 4-5 sprigs of thyme stripped
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 to mato chopped
- 1 roasted red pepper chopped
Instructions
Day ahead
- Soak the salted fish in cold water
Cooking
- Fill a medium sauce pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil
- Drop in the fish and let boil for about 10 minutes
- In the meantime, melt 2 tbsp of butter in a frying pan.
- Add the chopped onion, jalapeno, thyme, and pepper
- Saute until soft.
- By this time the fish should be ready. Pour into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Enough to be able to rough chop or shred the fish.
- Add the fish, tomato, and roasted red pepper.
- Let saute about 3-5 minutes.
- Carefully add the ackee. Use 2 forks to gently toss the ackee with the mix.
- Let heat through for a couple minutes, gently tossing if needed.
Notes
I added a bit more butter at the fish stage as the bottom of the pan was getting quite dry.
ACKEE AND SALTFISH