Creamy ackee sautéed with aromatics and chunks of flaked salted fish, this is Jamaica’s national dish: Ackee and Saltfish.
A traditional Jamaican favourite recipe that’s Keto-friendly and delicious.
What is ackee and saltfish?
Usually enjoyed at breakfast time though any time of day is fair game. Ackee and saltfish is usually served with “hard food” (often ground provisions such as yams, green bananas or breadfruit). Other favorites are boiled or fried dumplings; green or ripe plantains; harddough bread or even crackers; it’s whatever you like (or have) at the time.
What’s in ackee and saltfish?
When we lived in Kingston, my favourite time for making ackee and saltfish were Saturday mornings after the weekly Coronation market trip. We would have what I dubbed “Market Breakfast” which basically was whatever I’d bought that morning that was the best of the best. It was always a delight when ackee was in season.
In my ackee and saltfish I always put:
- onions and garlic (almost no dish starts in my house without that);
- escallion (or green onions) and thyme;
- scotch bonnet pepper and pimento (Jamaican allspice)
For color, I usually add red bell peppers and/or tomatoes. I LOVE tomatoes. So if tomatoes were in season it would be going in the pot but if not, they did not even leave the market with me! Produce prices vary drastically in Jamaica due to seasonality. This isn’t a bad thing, not only is eating seasonally cost effective, food tastes better when everything is at their peak. And if that wasn’t convincing enough, the fact that tomatoes would jump from 30 Jamaican dollars per pound in season to 250 Jamaican dollars per pound out of season was enough to do the trick.
Now that we’re in CT, our best bet for tomatoes are during farmer’s market season when we can get locally grown tomatoes or heirlooms. Outside of that I use red bell peppers instead. I’ve had far too much disappointment with flavorless hydroponically grown tomatoes from the grocery store and I am BEYOND over it.
Finally, when I really want that home flavor, I use homemade coconut oil (marketed as virgin coconut oil or cold pressed coconut oil). This adds an additional layer of flavour, and amps up the nostalgia for me.
How do you prepare ackee?
You can use either fresh or canned ackee. Canned ackee can be purchased from a Caribbean or African grocer. I’ve also seen canned ackee in Walmart. And of course, you can buy it online at Amazon.
If you are using fresh, you first have to clean the ackee:
Once clean, boil the ackee until tender. How long the ackee takes to get tender will depend on what kind of ackee you have (butter or cheese, check out this post to learn more).
Notice I say tender not mushy, it will cook a bit more when simmered with the saltfish so be mindful of that and check on it after 5 to 10 minutes. Monitor it from time to time to ensure it doesn’t mash out.
Once the ackee is tender, drain and discard the cooking water. The ackee is now ready for your recipe.
If you are using canned ackee which mashes easily, treat it like butter ackee: add it to the pot last and stir carefully. Too much handling will result in the ackee turning into mush which is still delicious just not aesthetically pleasing. Instead, give the pot a couple firm shakes and swirls to combine. If you trust your wrist game, you can do the omelette flipping move and toss the ackee that way. Aside from that I’ll sometimes use a spatula to gently turn the ackee from the bottom of the pot to the top.
What is saltfish?
Saltfish (or salted cod) is also called bacalao, bacalhau or baccalà. It is fish that has been dried and preserved in salt to remove its moisture. This extends the shelf life and allows it to be kept without refrigeration. Although we know that any type of fish could technically be salted. In Jamaica when we talk about saltfish we are usually referring to salted cod.
How is saltfish sold?
You can buy either deboned or bone-in saltfish. My personal preference, ever the one for efficiency and time saving is the boneless saltfish fillets.
Though some will argue that the saltfish with the bone in is more flavorful than its boneless counterpart; I just don’t feel there is a significant enough difference to warrant the time it takes to debone.
Recently my mom told me that she now finds flaked saltfish in a can. I told her she has no shame 🤣 but low key, I would probably buy it.
How do you prepare saltfish?
If you go with bone-in saltfish, be sure to do yourself the favor of peeling the skin off BEFORE boiling. It just makes for a less messy job of it all.
To prepare the saltfish: first rinse off the excess salt. Then put it in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring it to a boil and cook till desired level of salt is achieved.
Another method is: after it comes to a boil, pour off the water and repeat the process until the salt level is to your satisfaction, tasting as you go.
My preference is just to let the saltfish boil, then try a piece after about 10 or 15 minutes, if its still too salty I leave it a bit longer, if its good, I remove it from the stove and drain it straight away. This is important since if the saltfish continues to sit in the water, the salt will continue to be drawn out of the fish. This will leave you with a flavorless flaky textured thing which is no fun in the final dish.
Finally, on the packages of some boneless saltfish you will see a preparation option that advises you to rinse the saltfish and place in cold water in your fridge overnight. The following day the saltfish should be a the optimal salt level and you can flake it and be on your way. I have tried it this way and whereas it does work to reduce the saltiness. I’ve found that I prefer the texture of the fish when it’s boiled.
When you are happy with the salt level in your saltfish, pour off the water. Then when it becomes cool enough to handle, break it up into pieces to suit your preference. If you like bigger chunks feel free to do that, if you want a more even distribution of saltfish all through the dish, flake it into the smaller pieces. If you’ve used bone-in saltfish you have the extra step of deboning the saltfish while flaking it.
How to cook ackee and saltfish
Putting together the ackee and saltfish once both major elements are prepared is the easy part. Cutting up the veggies and other aromatics while waiting on the ackee and saltfish to boil is a good way to multitask.
Everyone has their own recipe, but the basic breakdown goes like this:
Heat oil and cook your aromatics (onions, garlic, escallion, hot pepper, escallion, crushed pimento etc)
Add your veggie add-ins (sweet peppers are the common one). Next up is the saltfish, followed by the parboiled ackee. A few minutes of simmering to allow the flavors to meld together. Then you’re ready to serve with your favourite side.
Treat the recipe below as a guide. I personally like more ackee than saltfish. Come on people! It’s called ackee and saltfish, the ackee is first which means (in my book) it should be more, if it was saltfish and ackee then the saltfish would be more 🤣. To each his own!
Have you ever made or had ackee and saltfish?
Are you team more ackee? Or team more saltfish?
Let me know in the comments section below.
If you make this or any of the recipes from the blog, be sure to #amazingackee and @amazingackee so I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time ☺️
Thanks for stopping by!
Ackee and Saltfish Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsps Oil*
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced**
- 2 stalks escallion (or green onions) thinly sliced, whites and greens separated
- Fresh thyme about 2 tsps when pulled from stems or more to taste
- 1 to 2 tsps Scotch bonnet pepper minced
- 1 large bell pepper, thinly sliced (you can sub tomatoes here if you can get flavorful ones, yo'll need about 3 small)
- 8 oz Saltfish boiled and deboned
- 16 oz Ackee parboiled and drained or canned (about 1 can)
- Pimento ground or a few kernels crushed, to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and add the onions and cook for about a minute.
- Then add the garlic and cook a minute more
- Add the white part of the escallion, thyme, scotch bonnet pepper and pepper*** or tomatoes, cook for 1 to 2 minutes
- Add the saltfish and cook a couple minutes more then add the ackee being careful not to mash it out too much
- If the mixture is dry, add a little bit of water. Turn the heat down and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve warm with your favorite side.
Video
Notes
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