Jamaica's National Dish, Suitable for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. It can be served with Fried Dumplings, Boiled Dumplings, Fried Bammy, Boiled Banana, Fried Plantains, Boiled Yam, Roast Yam or White Rice
Ingredients
2 Dozen Ackees (or 2 Tins of Ackee)
½lb Salted Codfish
¼ Cup Coconut Oil (or vegetable oil)
1 Medium Tomato, chopped
1 Red Sweet Pepper, chopped
1 Green Sweet Pepper, chopped
1 Onion chopped, or thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper
A few Pimento seeds (optional)
1 Tsp All Purpose Seasoning (optional)
A pack of Bammy (8 small round Bammies)
1 Ripe Plantain
1 Cup Milk
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
Oil for frying the plantain
Instructions
Soak the saltfish overnight in a covered pot. In the morning, pour off the water. Add fresh water and bring to a boil. Taste the fish to ensure that most of the salt has been boiled off. If it is very salty, pour off the water, add fresh water and boil again. This should be enough. The saltfish should not be bland. Pour off water and allow to cool. Using your fingers, break the fish into small pieces while removing any present bones. Be careful, the bones can be very small. You should end up with a heaping cup full of flaked saltfish.
If using canned ackees, drain liquid from the ackees and add to a pot of boiling water for about 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
If using fresh ackees, boil in salted water for about 15 minutes, or until ackees can be pierced with no resistance with a fork. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside
In a large skillet or dutch oven, warm the oil over medium heat
Give a gentle stir so that you don't break up the ackee
Cover and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes
Gently stir to fully combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste
For the bammies:Dissolve sugar in a cup of milk. Pour into a shallow dish. Place bammies into the milk and leave for about 5 minutes. Flip onto the other side. The bammy will absorb the milk.
In a medium-hot skillet with oil, fry the soaked bammy in oil and butter until golden brown, about 8 minutes on each side
Place on a paper towel to soak up oil from the bammy. Set aside
Thinly slice the plantain on the diagonal. Fry each piece in hot oil until brown on both sides. Place on paper towel to absorb oil
Serve and enjoy
Notes
Be careful not to overcook the ackee as it will get extremely soft and turn into mush
If you do not have saltfish available, crispy bacon is a great substitute. Just fry and break into bits.
A whole Scotch Bonnet pepper is an optional ingredient and would be added along with the ackee and allowed to simmer. Remove before serving, taking care not to pierce the pepper
Recipe by Lovely Pantry at https://lovelypantry.com/2012/04/ackee-saltfish/