← Nouns Cooking · Caribbean

Ingredients

• 800 g small whole red snapper, scaled and gutted, or thick firm fillets
• 1 Lime, halved
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 3 tbsp plain flour, for dusting (optional)
• 150 ml neutral oil, for frying
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 Spring onion, sliced
• 1 red or green pepper, sliced
• 1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 4 sprigs Thyme
• 6 whole allspice (pimento) berries
• ½ Scotch bonnet chilli, chopped
• 2 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tsp Browning sauce
• 375 ml hot water

Method

1. Rub the fish with the cut lime, rinse and pat very dry. Cut 2–3 slashes on each side of whole fish, then season inside and out with salt, pepper and ground allspice.
2. Dust lightly with flour if using. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the fish for 4–5 min per side, until crisp and golden. Lift onto a plate.
3. Pour off all but 2 tbsp of oil. Fry the onion, garlic, spring onion, pepper, carrot, thyme, allspice berries and scotch bonnet over medium heat for 3–4 min.
4. Stir in the tomato purée, ketchup and browning and cook for 1 minute, then add the hot water and simmer for 5 min into a glossy brown gravy.
5. Slide the fish back in, spoon the sauce and vegetables over, cover and simmer gently for 8–10 min, until the flesh flakes from the bone. Taste for salt.

Tips

• Snapper, parrot fish, sea bream or kingfish steaks all work; very thin fillets need only 2–3 min in the gravy.
• Skip the flour (or use rice flour) to keep it gluten-free; check your browning sauce label too.
• 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 That Girl Cooks Healthy