Ackee and Saltfish is Jamaica’s national dish. We had a ackee tree in our front yard back home. It’s always been one of my favorite meals growing up.
We’d go outside and pick fresh ackee for our Sunday breakfast. My mom made it with fried dumpling, green banana, festival, hard-dough bread, bammy, fried plantains, or roasted bread-fruit. Now I’m passing along the tradition to my kids.
Even though we can no longer just go out in the front yard to pick the ackee from the tree, friends and family members often bring some from Jamaica. We also buy it in a can at the local grocery store.
Origin of Ackee and Saltfish
It’s believe that ackee was brought to Jamaica from West Africa, and has become Jamaica’s national fruit. It almost looks like scrambled eggs. Ackee season falls between January and March and also from June to August.
Saltfish is actually codfish, which was originally brought to Jamaica from Europe as a cheaper source of protein. It’s preserved by salting and then drying in natural sunlight. This process also gives the fish its flavor.
When it comes to making ackee and saltfish, each recipe may vary a little bit. You’ll find that some recipes may call for thyme, tomatoes, or other spices. But, ours is a little different. This is our ackee and saltfish recipe. For more delicious fish recipe, you may check out this triggerfish recipe.
Ackee and SaltFish Recipe
Ingredients
1 lb of saltfish
19 oz of ackee
1 tablespoons of coconut oil
2 tsp black pepper
½ cup red pepper
1 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup scallions (separate the white from the green part)
2 garlic cloves minced
Directions
- Soak the dry salted codfish in water overnight to get rid of excess salt. Once you’re ready to prepare your meal, rinse the saltfish with water.
- Fill pot with water and add saltfish. Then bring to a boil and cook for a three to four minutes. (Be careful not to overcook the fish).
- Rinse saltfish with cool water. Then carefully remove skin and bones separating the fish in small pieces.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large frying pan.
- Add in white scallion pieces, black pepper, onions, red and scotch bonnet peppers, ketchup and garlic. Stir fry for a couple minutes before adding in the saltfish. Allow everything to simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Rinse ackee with water and then cook ackee in fresh water for about 3 minutes. Again, be careful not to overcook. Ackee should be heated. If you cook it too long, you could ruin the texture.
- Remove from heat and drain ackee. Then fold ackee in with the saltfish and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Lastly, add the remaining scallion and season with black pepper to taste.
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