Watch our step-by-step video for this recipe below
Jamaican Fish Tea is what I’d describe as a light soup or a broth soup. That’s because “real” Jamaican soups are thick, hearty and more like a stew. Also, unlike other Jamaican soups, fish tea can be made in less than an hour! Traditionally fish tea is made with small inexpensive fish like herring or sprat, but you can use any fish you like. In the video above I used red snapper because it’s a fleshy fish that doesn’t have a lot of bones.
My version of fish tea is a little heartier than what I grew up with. When I was young we’d be lucky to have carrots and cabbage in ours. But if we had more vegetables we’d put more in the pot. So, this recipe is my ideal version of fish tea … full of vegetables and flavour!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 medium whole fish or 4 small
8 cups Water
3 Green Bananas, sliced
2 Cho Cho (choyote), sliced
1 large Carrot, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 Green and Red Bell Pepper, sliced
2 Scallion stalks (green onion)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
2 to 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme
1/4 tsp West Indian Hot Pepper Sauce
1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper
1 Tbsp Butter or Margarine
Method
1. Remove fish heads and set aside. Filet fish and set flesh aside.
2. Place the fish heads and bones into a stock pot; add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil for 10 minutes.
3. Strain fish stock and discard heads and bones; add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.
4. Add green bananas, cho cho and carrot to fish stock and bring to a rapid boil.
5. Add onion, bell peppers and scallion; add salt and black pepper to taste, fresh thyme, hot pepper sauce and stir
6. Place scotch bonnet pepper and fish fillets on top of soup and simmer on Medium High for 10 minutes
7. Stir in butter or margarine and simmer for 5 minutes
Serves 4
