Antigua: Salt Fish
I completely forgot I had at least 24 hours of prep for this dish, so the evening I was going to cook this, we had burgers instead. I could have bought pre-made salt fish but the options that were available to me in the supermarket all looked awful, and I've never salted a fish before so I was up for the challenge.
Challenge it was not. It was actually incredibly easy, so I'm glad I opted to do it for myself. Time consuming, yes, but most of that time is passive anyway. You just let the fish do its thing and come back to it later.
I'd never really heard of salt fish before, but apparently it's a common local dish in Antigua. The recipe I followed called for a tin of tomato sauce, which I didn't have, so I just chopped up some cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge, which worked out really well. The fish is obviously very salty so commonly it is served with ducana, a sweet potato dumpling, which I also made. I think the ducana and the salt fish complimented each other really well, it was both sweet and salty all at the same time: anyone who has had icecream with popcorn at the cinema already knows how good the sweet and salty combination is!
First you have to salt the fish for 24 hours. This is very simple, just put a small layer of salt at the bottom of a plate and place your fish on top. Then cover it up with salt, including around the sides, wrap the plate in cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours.
I think I did actually make the salt fish incorrectly - on further examination of the recipe it says that each individual fish gets wrapped up in cling film, whereas I wrapped them both up on the plate covered in salt together. Either way, mine turned out delicious so I would probably just do it this way again, as it was simple enough and less wasteful.
After the 24 hours is up, you need to soak the fish in cold water for another four hours. Be careful when lifting the fish off the plate as there will be fish juices underneath it.
Once they've finished soaking, you need to boil the fish for 45 minutes. While they were boiling I prepped the rest of the vegetables needed, and got started on the ducana. Once the 45 minutes are up, drain the fish and soak them in cold water to cool down. Once cool, break the fish into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Pour oil into a pan and add onions, garlic and peppers. Fry until translucent.
Add the tomatoes, vinegar and fish to the pan, sprinkle with black pepper, mix together and let simmer on a medium heat for about 30 minutes - enough time to let the ducana cook in the meantime. Serve with ducana and buttery spinach or fried plantain. Yum!
Antiguan Salt Fish
Serves 2
Ingredients
Challenge it was not. It was actually incredibly easy, so I'm glad I opted to do it for myself. Time consuming, yes, but most of that time is passive anyway. You just let the fish do its thing and come back to it later.
I'd never really heard of salt fish before, but apparently it's a common local dish in Antigua. The recipe I followed called for a tin of tomato sauce, which I didn't have, so I just chopped up some cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge, which worked out really well. The fish is obviously very salty so commonly it is served with ducana, a sweet potato dumpling, which I also made. I think the ducana and the salt fish complimented each other really well, it was both sweet and salty all at the same time: anyone who has had icecream with popcorn at the cinema already knows how good the sweet and salty combination is!
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| The finished dish, ready to eat. The salt fish is on the right, while the ducana is on the top left, and plantains on the bottom. Delicious! |
First you have to salt the fish for 24 hours. This is very simple, just put a small layer of salt at the bottom of a plate and place your fish on top. Then cover it up with salt, including around the sides, wrap the plate in cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours.
I think I did actually make the salt fish incorrectly - on further examination of the recipe it says that each individual fish gets wrapped up in cling film, whereas I wrapped them both up on the plate covered in salt together. Either way, mine turned out delicious so I would probably just do it this way again, as it was simple enough and less wasteful.
 |
After the 24 hours is up, you need to soak the fish in cold water for another four hours. Be careful when lifting the fish off the plate as there will be fish juices underneath it.
 |
Once they've finished soaking, you need to boil the fish for 45 minutes. While they were boiling I prepped the rest of the vegetables needed, and got started on the ducana. Once the 45 minutes are up, drain the fish and soak them in cold water to cool down. Once cool, break the fish into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Pour oil into a pan and add onions, garlic and peppers. Fry until translucent.
Add the tomatoes, vinegar and fish to the pan, sprinkle with black pepper, mix together and let simmer on a medium heat for about 30 minutes - enough time to let the ducana cook in the meantime. Serve with ducana and buttery spinach or fried plantain. Yum!
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 cod fillets, about 125g each
- A lot of sea salt
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1/2 green, red, and yellow pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Punnet of cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Black pepper
Instructions
- 24 hours before you want to cook this meal, pour a thin layer of salt onto a plate. Wash and dry the fish carefully, and place on top of the salt layer. Completely cover with salt, and toss until covered on the sides as well.
- Tightly wrap in cling film and put into the fridge. Leave for 24 hours.
- Take the fish out of the fridge, unwrap, and soak in a bowl of water for about 4 hours. Be careful when lifting them off the plate as there will be a lot of liquid left behind.
- After soaking, boil the fish for 45 minutes.
- While the fish is boiling, prep the vegetables: cut the onion into rings, slice the garlic thinly, and cut the peppers into thin strips. Chop the tomatoes in half or quarters, whichever you prefer. Begin making the ducana.
- Once the fish has finished boiling, drain and place into cold water to cool.
- When cool, break into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Pour oil into frying pan on medium-high and add the garlic, onions and peppers. Fry until translucent before adding the tomatoes and fish, and sprinkle with black pepper.
- Stir everything together and the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes, until the ducana has finished boiling.
- Serve and enjoy!
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