Ackee and Saltfish – Jamaica’s National Dish
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Soak the cod saltfish in cold water for a couple hours.
  2. Drain and replace with a new batch of cold water and let it soak overnight at room temperature.
  3. Pour off water and cut the saltfish into 1 inch pieces.
  4. After opening the 2 cans of ackee, pour ackee into a strainer to drain the water
  5. Cut a pack of bacon into smaller pieces. Fry the bacon. Then remove the bacon from the pan and drain most of the oil and keep 2 tablespoons of the bacon oil to fry this Ackee and Saltfish dish.
  6. Use 2 tablespoon of bacon oil in the pan and saute onion, garlic, tomatoes, scotch bonnet pepper, pimento berries and red pepper until tender. (Approximatley 5-6 minutes)
  7. Add 4-5 sprigs of thyme.
  8. Pour in fried bacon
  9. Add in saltfish, stir and simmer for a few minutes.
  10. Pour in ackee and simmer for another 2 minutes. Handle Ackee with care as it is fragile.
  11. Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
  12. Cover and allow it to stand over low heat for about 2 minutes.
  13. Toss lightly
  14. Garnish with Scallion (Optional)