Cabbage with saltfish.. such a common and classic Caribbean dish, loved across the region. Bits of Salted Cod added to any dish is what most Caribbean folks would consider our ‘Umami’, so it’s common to elevate things like the simple Cabbage to new tasty heights. The beauty of this dish is that you can any vegetable you have on hand or enjoy as other cultures do stir fry. Days when I have mushrooms or fresh green peas from the garden.. yea they find their way into the pot.
You’ll Need…
2 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium onion (diced) 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper (sliced) 1 large tomato (seeded / diced) 1/2 large cabbage (shredded/chopped) 1/3 lb salted cod (prepared) 1 medium carrot (grated) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (divided) 2 scallions (chopped) salt (adjust)
Important. If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary requirements.
Heat oil on a medium flame in a wide saucepan, then go in with the onion and stir. Turn the heat down to low and cook slowly to bring out the natural sweetness of the onion without burning it.
Add the scotch bonnet pepper, 1/2 the black pepper and the prepared salted cod (saltfish). Cook on low for 3 minutes. Heat up to medium, add the tomato and stir. A minute later add the crushed garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
Note! Wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such hot peppers and don’t include any seeds or the white membrane surrounding the seeds as that’s where the scorching heat lives. Unless you want the raw fire.
Add the chopped/shredded cabbage and stir well to bring all the flavors together. It will seem like a lot of cabbage, but it will wilt as it cooks. Place the lid on and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove the lid at this point and stir well.
Add the grated carrot and combine. (heat still on medium/high) Put the lid back on and cook for 3-4 minutes to sort of steam the cabbage and carrot.
Taste for salt and adjust as the salted cod may have enough remaining salt (as in my case) to season this dish for you. Hit it with the remaining black pepper, toss in the scallions and mix well. Turn off your heat.
Serve as a side dish and any remaining can be used to make the perfect filling for sandwiches.. my fav actually. Quick, simple and tasty, no need to fuss around in the kitchen when you got saltfish and cabbage yea. Enjoy!
This green fig with saltfish recipe is a tribute to the wonderful people of St Lucia. On our first trip to St Lucia many moons ago I was fortunate to have something very similar to this meal and I remember our hosts saying that it was their national dish. I never really confirmed this, as we were too caught-up in enjoying the great food and general hospitality of St Lucia. BTW, if you ever visit St Lucia and you’re ‘convinced’ that you should go to signal hill… make sure you’re in good shape. That trek up the hill had me craving oxygen! My time would have been better spent drinking a coconut at the Castries market.
It’s funny how when you’re a child on the islands you always think whatever your mom made was her recipe or creation… not knowing that up and down the chain of islands known as the Caribbean the same dishes are prepared for kids just like us by their mom. How could this be a popular dish in St Lucia when our mom was the only one who knew how to make it?
You’ll Need…
2 lbs green cooking bananas
pinch black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
2 cups cabbage
2 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
3/4 cup saltfish
1 medium tomato
Notes. The salted fish will still have remaining salt, so keep this in mind when adding salt to the dish. Remember to wear gloves when handling scotch bonnet peppers and be sure to wash your hands with soap and water directly after. Green fig is simply green ‘cooking’ bananas.
You have 2 options when it comes to cooking the green fig (bananas), you can either peel them before boiling or peel after they’re done cooking. I’ll show you the simple method. Trim off the ends and discard, then using a sharp pairing knife cut a shallow cut (the thickness of the skin) down the length of the banana (follow one of the natural ridges). TIP: coat your hands with vegetable oil or wear gloves as the sap from the green bananas can stain or cause your hands to itch.
Place the trimmed bananas in a deep pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a rolling boil and let them cook for about 20 minutes. You’ll notice two things. They will darken (even go black) and where you made the cut, it will open up.
Drain and allow to cool so it’s easier to handle (peel).
The salt fish (salt cod in my case), was soaked in cool water, then drained. After which I placed it in a pot with about 4 cups of water and boiled for about 25 minutes. We need to rehydrate the dried salted fish and remove most of the salt it was cured in. I usually get boned salted fish, so there’s never any bones to remove. Rinse with cool water and squeeze dry. Now shred into the size flakes yo like.
Chop/shred your cabbage, onion, tomato, garlic, thyme and parsley. Then heat the vegetable oil (you can also use olive or coconut oil) on a medium flame in a deep sauce pan. Add the flaked salted fish and turn the heat down to low. Let that cook for about 4 minutes as we want to create a lovely flavor base.
Now add the onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, black pepper and thyme and let it cook for a further 3 minutes.
Toss in the shredded cabbage and give it a good stir. It’s also now time to add the boiled bananas (they should be cool enough to handle). The cut we made before boiling them would have opened up, so simply peel back and remove the skin. If you see any sort of stringy things, remove those as well. Now chop into 1 inch pieces and add to the pot and sprinkle in the salt.
Turn the heat up to med/low and make sure to mix everything well so the flavors coat the green bananas. After about 4 minutes (depending how cooked you want the cabbage… I like a little crunch) toss in the diced tomato and parsley, give it a stir, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the residual heat from the pot finish cooking things.
This is a one pot dish and there’s enough here for 2-3 people as a full meal. If it’s being used as a side it will be enough for about 5 people easily. I refer to such meals as “country” meals as it takes me back to when I was a carefree kid on the islands and life was very simple in our little village in the countryside.
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I know my Trinbagonian friends will be asking “what this fella trying to pull off as callaloo” as Callaloo in Trinidad and Tobago and a number of the other beautiful islands which make up the Caribbean, is a delicious dish and not a plant. In Jamaica the (plant) callaloo is a much loved ingredient in many of their dishes and is what other islanders will refer to as spinach and/or chorai bhagi. Now that I’ve cleared the air (any confusion), let’s take a peek at a very hearty and delicious dish with strong Caribbean roots (no matter how you call the greens we’ll be using).
BTW, the callaloo (bhagi) is fresh out of my garden and would be considered “organic” (I don’t use pesticides etc) by today’s standard.. you ever notice how much more expensive “organic” vegetables (and meat) are in the grocery store. personally I think it’s rip-off (who monitors these farmers?).
You’ll Need…
1 cup salted fish (see note below)
1 tomato
5 green bananas (cooking bananas)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
3 sprigs thyme
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 scallions
1 cup coconut milk
* 1 bundle of callaloo (about 8 cups when chopped)
Notes: I used salted cod fish (which is dry and salted) but you can use your favourite salted fish (Alaskan,Pollock..etc). In the video clip below I’ll show you how to prep the salted cod for use in this dish (soak, boil and shred). The green bananas will be called “green fig” and/or “cooking bananas” in your fav grocery store.
Wash the callaloo bush repeatedly under cool water to remove any sand or dirt. Then trim off the leaves and tender stems. I then peeled back on the stems to remove the exterior (this way it’s not stringy when cooked). Make small bundles with the now trimmed leaves (1/2 inch thick) and cut into ribbons. Place in a bowl with water to remain fresh. When it’s near time to cook it, drain thoroughly.
Next up we need to prep the salted fish for use. This may mean (depending on the variety you use) soaking for a few hours in cool water, then discard that water and place the salted fish into a pot covered with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 25 minutes, then drain, rinse with cool water and then trim/shred. This is to re hydrate the dried salted fish and to remove most of the salt it was cured in.Then it’s just a matter of using a fork (or your fingers) to shred it.
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We’ve got to cook the green bananas before we can add them to the pot with the other ingredients. Basically all you have to do is trim off the ends of each banana, place them in a deep pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. As it comes to a boil, add the salt and allow it to cook for about 20-25 minutes. Then drain, allow to cool and peel off the skin, then cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces. If you know how to peel green bananas, you can certainly peel before boiling, but I find it’s much easier to boil with the skin on and peel after. When the green banana is fully cooked, you’ll notice the skin (banana peel) will crack and start separating from the flesh.
As the banana cooks, it will go from that brilliant green to a dark (almost black) colour.. that is normal. The next step is to chop the tomato (set aside for later), onion,, scotch bonnet pepper, scallion, garlic and thyme. Remember when using scotch bonnet peppers, to wear gloves, wash your hands with soap immediately after use and don’t include the seeds if you can’t handle the raw heat.
Now that everything is prepped, it’ time to drain the chopped callaloo and heat the oil on a medium flame (deep pan). Then add the shredded saltfish to the pot and lower your flame to low. Allow this to cook for about 5 minutes, until the pieces of cod gets a bit crispy and flavors the entire pan. It will start to stick to the bottom of your pan..scrape and stir. Now add the chopped onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, scallion and black pepper to the pan and allow to soften up and build that lovely flavor base (about 3 minutes).
Now it’s time to add the chopped callaloo to the pot and give it a good stir. At first it may seem a lot for the pot, but as it cooks down it will wilt and you’ll have enough room. Top with the coconut milk and salt.. cover the pot and let that cook on a medium/low heat for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove the lid (remember to keep stirring), add the the pieces of cooked green banana and give it a good stir. It’s natural for the callaloo to spring it’s own juices, so turn up the heat and try to burn off any remaining liquid in the pot. Should take about 5 minutes. Taste for salt, top with the chopped tomato and you’re done.
For the amount of callaloo I had, I could have easily put about 4 more green bananas in the pot.. but I love me some callaloo, so I didn’t make it an issue. The lovely flavor base we made with the salted cod and the other ingredients, will certainly rock your taste buds. If you’ve never had cooked green banana the texture will be similar to a very firm potato (like a baked potato) and the callaloo will be almost the same as spinach.. but with a unique flavor of it’s own.
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It’s tradition whenever the “Soca Warriors” play a game I try to cook up a batch of pelau. Nothing beats watching your favourite football (soccer) team and enjoying one of your favourite dishes. Today the “Warriors” are scheduled to play a very crucial game against the US, so normally by now I’d have seasoned chicken marinating to cook up as game time approaches. But today is a bit different. Lately I’ve been having a craving for ground provisions so I went out and purchased some eddoes. I was about to make some stewed beef to go with the eddoes, but since time is against me I’ve settled for tomato and saltfish. After all it’s fairly quick and easy to prepare and it doesn’t require having to thaw out frozen meat from the freezer.
So I’ve gone ahead and made up a batch of saltfish with tomatoes (which I will reheat later) and about 30 minutes before the game starts I’ll put the eddoes to boil. If you’re not familiar with eddoes, do a keyword search in search box (top right) above.
You’ll need…
4-6 oz of salted fish
1 large tomato sliced
1 scallion sliced
1 medium onion sliced
1-2 cloves garlic sliced thin
2-3 chili peppers (optional) or use whatever hot pepper you have or like
fresh ground black pepper
couple sprigs thyme (optional)
1 teaspoon ketchup
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Start by placing the saltfish in a fairly deep bowl, then pour enough boiling water to completely cover it. Allow this to soak from about 25 minutes, then rinse and squeeze out any extra water (remember to make sure the water is cool so you don’t get burn). Then shred the saltfish as we did when we made the saltfish buljol recipe.
The next step is to slice the onion, galric, tomato and scallion. Then in a saucepan heat the oil and toss in the pieces of saltfish. Allow this to cook for about 1-2 minutes so the oil is flavoured with the salted fish. Then add the garlic, pepper and onion and allow this to cook for another couple minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Be sure to add a dash of fresh ground black pepper and stir everything around. Allow this to cook for another couple minutes, then it’s ready for serving. If you wish, at the end you can toss is a teaspoon of Goldenray butter, but you have to be careful that the dish doesn’t go salty. Remember the fish was cured in salt, so it can easily have too much salt by adding the Goldenray butter.
Since I added whole chili peppers and not sliced scotch bonnet or habanero, near the end I use my spoon to crush the pepper in the pot so it releases some of it’s heat into the dish. But as mentioned, the pepper is totally optional.
Not only is this great with ground provisions like eddoes, yam, cassava, green bananas and dasheen, it’s also excellent with roti or fry bake. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong using it for sandwiches as well (just use less oil).
Let’s just hope I can get a link online to watch the game tonight.
Happy Cooking and don’t forget to leave me your questions or comments below.
It’s tradition whenever the “Soca Warriors” play a game I try to cook up a batch of 
