i hate to even ask this, but has anyone tried ackee in a can and saltfish stateside? recipes? Assume saltfish would be frozen cod. I just got 4 cans of ackee, and well... i'll pretend i'm in JA land for one meal.
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i hate to even ask this, but has anyone tried ackee in a can and saltfish stateside? recipes? Assume saltfish would be frozen cod. I just got 4 cans of ackee, and well... i'll pretend i'm in JA land for one meal.
I brought some cans back one year and made an Ital version. Turned out pretty good but nothing compared to fresh. It tends to be a likkle too mushy. But, it is better than none. Good luck!
I haven't tried it--and I am sure it won't equal fresh ackee and saltfish- one of my favorite JA dishes. But if you season it well with onion, hot peppers, sweet peppers, fresh thyme and saltfish (not frozen cod but the dried salted cod that you reconstitute in water) you could probably make a good dish. Serve it with a side of steamed or sauteed greens (spinach, chard, what have you) in place of callaloo. Curious to see how it turns out. I haven't seen canned ackee in stores near me, but if I did, I would give it a try. Too bad they don't carry fresh-frozen--I think that would be better.
boil the canned ackee in just a touch of water ..salt fish will have to be soaked in water at least 24 hours ..then fry up the ackee and season as preferred .. a tip ..shallots do wonders with ackee !!
I'm curious - how much did you pay for the cans of ackee? A year or so ago I bought some in the store, and was shocked that it was $16+ per can. The store manager, sure it was a mistake, gave it to me for free. Then I posted the story online and lo and behold -- everyone paid around that much for it -- so I went back to the store, returned the cans, and walked off with none. Felt like the right thing to do -- but didn't help satisfy my craving for the ackee! Let us know how it turns out.
Grace canned ackee costs about $16 per can in the Wash DC area but there is another brand that costs much less (I can't think of the name right now). We have a few Caribbean supermarkets in the area so we get it all the time but if you don't have one, try one of the spanish grocery stores. Saltfish is salted cod fish.
When getting the saltfish, try to get the dried boneless kind. Soak it overnight and in the am, throw off the water and add more water. After putting all your seasonings in a pan (peppers, scallion, thyme, onion, tomato, bacon), throw off the water from the saltfish and then add the saltfish to your pan (i do taste the saltfish to see if it still has some flavor to it and if not, I add salt/pepper to the pan). Give it a few stirs, place the lid on and let it cook. I check it and stir a few times. I then open a can of ackee, drain it, give it a quick rinse (keep water pressure low) and then dump it as evenly as possible over the saltfish without stirring it, place the lid back on and let it heat up. When I'm ready to serve I give a good stir with a gentle hand as it can mush up.
I always serve mine with a side of callaloo. My parents grow it so their freezer is always well packed with bags of cleaned and chopped callaloo. Now, I'm hungry for it so I know what my Sunday breakfast will be!
Gotta boil dem ackee first a likkle ..before fryin em up !!
Price of canned ackee will depend on where you live.Here in NA, its the only way to go...canned . Unlees yu brought some frozen ackee back from jamaica. Here in Toronto , its no prob to go thru customs with frozen ackee. I will share the recipe with you. I cook it quite iften and it costs about $5.oo here on sale
INGREDIENTS :
•1/2 lb. Saltfish (codfish)
•1 can ackee ,open can and drain water from the can
•1 small onion
•1 teaspoon black pepper
•1 sprig tyme
•1 crushed garlic or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
•3 slices hot scotch bonnet pepper
•1 small red sweet pepper
•cooking oil
1.Rinse salt from saltfish and boil in water for 5-7 minutes.
2 Rinse the ackees with some boiling water. Ackees are already cooked. No need to cook them again but I like to rinse them once more with hot water. The ackees get steamed further while yu warm them up with the onions and saltfish
3..Pour off hot water from saltfish and rinse in cold water so you will be able to handle it.Pick up (flake) the saltfish and remove all bones.
4. Add the oil and sauté thinly crushed and chopped up garlic ,sliced onions and sweet pepper rings.
5, Fold in the flaked saltfish to the sauteed mix
6 Fold in the ackees gently, and turn the fire/stove up to medium , Be careful not to mash up the ackees
10.Add black pepper
11.Pour in to serving plate and Enjoy with cooked "food,Hard Do bread or dumplins
Not ackee and saltfish, but look at the back of the canned ackee... sometimes there are other recipes on it! My friend once made ackee lasagna from a recipe on the can and it was great!!!
The other brand is called Juliana. It costs about $8 and I couldn't tell the difference between this brand and Grace - tasted great to all of us. One side of the can says "ackee" and the other side says "aki"Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamerican71
Is ackee aplentiful right now in Negril? Couldn't find it anywhere on my reach last year, and everyone was telling me it was "out of season"?
UPDATE: gave a trial run with several substitution ingredients, and without saltfish. Was going to use the regular cod i had in fridge but held back and just concentrated on the ackee w/out the saltfish. Not sure where to get saltfish, but am working on it. Boiled the ackee, then pan fried with jalapeno peppers, yellow pepper, onions, small potatoes. Pretty good. Real test will be with scotch bonnet peppers and saltfish. BTW the ackee price was 2 cans Grace ackee for $1.00 - if you can believe that. Got it at a overstock grocery place last December, where they sell dented cans etc, bought them out which was 4 cans. The outer portion of the cans were in good shape, that is not dented, but the expire date was Nov 2011. I used one can which was enough for two breakfasts for one person, which means i packaged up the leftovers for the next day. Now in JA land, i remember the locals saying if the ackee is not ripe, and picked at the right time, you could be in trouble. Keeping boiled ackee in fridge as leftover was a concern, but appears to have worked, since i am moving around w/out incident today, one day after finishing off the leftovers. Good meals! More later....
No need to fear preparing ackee that you obtained from a can.
The problem is fresh ackee in the pod. IF the pod is FORCED open to remove the ackee, then the ackee is poisonous. If the pod stays on the tree and OPENS NATURALLY, then there is no need to fear eating the ackee. All the poisonous fumes escape naturally and the ackee is no problem to eat. Ackee is also eaten raw and the person eating it doesn't suffer from any ill effects.
great video!Quote:
Originally Posted by lisapat
If you don't remember to pre-soak the saltfish, just give it a first boil-up on the stove, throw out that water, add fresh water and boil again. After you pick the saltfish, taste it. If still salty, cover with fresh water and let it soak while you prepare the rest.
IMO, the flavor key is to saute the seasonings in oil before you add the saltfish and/or ackee
I buy Canned ackee here in Ontario all the time, price ranges from a high of about $9.00 to a low of $5.00. Saw it on sale once for $4.44...bought 10 cans.
Several different brands,Mr. Goudas, Grace and Dunns river. Sometimes it is Jamaican product but most often from Ivory Coast in Africa. I cant tell the difference.
I have it for breakfast a couple of times a week.......no need to boil the canned stuff first. I make up fried dumplings then put the Ackee into the remaining oil along with Diced onions and diced tomatoe, salt and black pepper. Havent found a replcement for the calalloo yet so I just dont bother. Lately Ive made up festivals instead of dumplinmgs but its a lot more work.