← Nouns Cooking · Caribbean

Ingredients

• 400 g cleaned conch meat (fresh or frozen), pounded and finely chopped
• 200 g plain flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 Eggs
• 150 ml Milk
• ½ Onion, finely chopped
• ½ green pepper, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• ½ Scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1 l neutral oil, for deep frying
• 4 tbsp Mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 Lime, juiced
• 1 tsp Hot sauce

Method

1. Stir the dipping sauce ingredients together and chill.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Beat in the egg and milk to a thick batter, then fold in the conch, onion, pepper, celery, scotch bonnet and thyme. It should drop heavily from a spoon.
3. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 180°C (350°F), or until a drop of batter sizzles and rises at once.
4. Drop in heaped tablespoons of batter, a few at a time, and fry for 3–4 min, turning, until deep golden and cooked through.
5. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with the sauce and lime wedges.

Tips

• Conch is tough: pound it with a meat mallet or pulse it in a food processor before mixing. Chopped prawns or clams make a good swap.
• Contains shellfish, egg, dairy and wheat. Never leave hot oil unattended.
• Wear gloves to cut or blend scotch bonnets, keep your hands away from your eyes and wash the board, knife and blender well afterwards.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Jamaicans.com Taste the Islands