Craig and Shaun Mcanuff

In this episode, Youtube stars and authors of Original Flava Craig and Shaun Mcanuff share their recipe for a Jamaican classic

Ackee & saltfish is Jamaica’s national dish. It’s one of those dishes you can eat any time of day. Ackee is a creamy fruit with a soft texture so it absorbs the other flavours in the dish really well. It’s delicious. You can’t get fresh ackee over here but canned ackee is still good. Jamaican dumplings go well with this.

Ackee & saltfish

SERVES 4-6 PREP 20 mins COOK 45 mins EASY

600g boneless salt cod

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 3 spring onions, thinly sliced 1 scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded

and finely chopped 1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp ground pimento (allspice) ½ red pepper, deseeded and finely

chopped

½ green pepper, deseeded and

finely chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

2 x 540g cans ackee, drained

1 Put the salt cold in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then boil for 5 mins, drain and add fresh cold water to cover.

2 Repeat this process until you’re happy with the saltiness when tasted; we recommend boiling the fish three times in total for a perfect balance of salt in the fish. Drain and leave to cool. Use a fork to shred the salt cod into pieces and set aside.

3 Pour the vegetable oil into a large frying pan and put on a high heat. Once the oil is sizzling hot, turn the heat down to low-medium. Add the onion, garlic, spring onions and scotch bonnet, then cook until soft, around 5-7 mins.

4 Add the salt cod, some black pepper, the thyme and pimento, then mix it together and cook for around 3 mins.

5 Next, stir in the red and green peppers, along with the tomato and cook for a further 2-3 mins.

6 Fold in the ackee (as it’s soft, it’s important to fold it in very gently – nobody likes mushy ackee) and season with a little more black pepper. Simmer for 3-5 mins to warm through, then serve.

GOOD TO KNOW gluten free

PER SERVING 435 kcals • fat 22g • saturates 1g •

carbs 5g • sugars 4g • fibre 1g • protein 53g • salt 2.1g