Escovitch Fish
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
1 hr 20 mins
Caribbean food is just an amazing and underrated cuisine. Today, I bring you a hidden Jamaican gem: Escovitch Fish.
Course:
Main Course
Cuisine:
Caribbean, Jamaican
Keyword:
escovitch fish
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Fried fish
- 4 medium-size snappers (note 1)
- 1 lime
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 8 spring onions sprigs
- 1 tbsp all-purpose seasoning
- 1 tbsp paprika
- ½ tbsp ground black pepper
- ½ tbsp onion powder
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp oregano
- Salt to taste
Vegetables
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (note 2)
- ½ medium-size red bell pepper (note 3)
- ½ medium-size yellow bell pepper
- ½ medium-size green bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1 tbsp peppercorn
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
-
Cover the cleaned snappers with lime juice. In a small bowl mix all the spices (except the spring onion and the thyme sprigs). Season the fish with this mix. Make sure it is well coated. Place 1 sprig of thyme and two of spring onions inside each fish (see the picture above). Let it marinate in the fridge for 1 hour at least. I would recommend overnight.
-
Cut the onion, bell peppers and carrot into thick julienne. Pierce the scotch bonnet pepper with a knife. Cut the garlic cloves into slices.
-
In a pot add the vinegar, sugar, peppercorn, and thyme. Let it boil. Lower the temperature to medium heat.
-
Toss the carrot and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the vegetables. Let it simmer for 5 minutes until the onion is transparent but still a bit crunchy. Season with salt.
-
Fry both sides of the fish until they have a brown crust and the inside is fully cooked but not dry. Let it drain the excess oil and serve covered with the vegetables.
Recipe Notes
1. Cleaned and scaled.
2. You can swap for any variety of spicy pepper. Adjust accordingly to how much heat you want. Also, you can use 1 tsp of cayenne powder instead.
3. If you don't have all three types of bell pepper (red, yellow and green), you can just use the one type you have in hand and add 1 whole bell pepper.