Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

This weekend I tried out a recipe for Brown Stew Fish, a common Jamaican recipe.  The recipe comes from the Jamaican cookbook I borrowed from my brother, "Jamaican Cooking" by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  It turned out so well, I really don't recommend too many improvements. Good, good stuff.

A fundamental skill for this recipe is frying fish.  Frying fish is tricky because there are so many ways to fail - burning it, leaving it raw in the middle, obliterating the fish, explosions of hot oil, etc.  The first time I tried to fry battered fish, all the batter fell off and I ended up with a mess.  The two key factors are 1) dry the fish as much as possible before frying and 2) get the oil really hot before adding the fish.  On point 1), drying the fish limits the addition of water to the pan.  Water causes the oil to explode and you run the risk of injuring yourself.  Basically, the oil is 350 oF, but water boils at 212 oF, so as soon as water hits the pan, it turns to water vapor, greatly increasing in volume, exploding hot oil in all directions - very bad.  Water also cools down the oil, preventing good frying, even boiling your fish instead of frying it..  Finally, wet breading will readily fall off, defeating the purpose of having breading in the first place.  On point 2), having hot oil cooks the fish quickly, solidifying it before it has a chance to fall apart and limiting the time in the pan limits the amount of oil that the fish picks up.  Nobody wants greasy Filet-o-Fish..

I left the scotch bonnet pepper whole.  This way I didn't need to touch the pepper too much (and later touch my eyes-ouch) and it was easy to remove at the end.  Even one pepper for the relatively brief cooking time was enough to give it a distinct spiciness.

I really liked adding vinegar based hot sauce in the end.  The broth was delicious without it, but I think it added an additional depth.  The hot sauce I prepared a couple of weeks ago worked great.  Tabasco or Franks would also do the job.

The recipe called for 3lbs of fish.  I used 2 and even one would be fine.  With two pounds, the broth barely covered the fish.  It sort of depend whether you want to emphasize the brown stew or the fish.

I used swai and perch as the fish.  Both worked fine.  Swai is a catfish from SE Asia.  I thought it might be too mushy, but it worked great.

Make sure to thaw the fish thoroughly before cooking.  This will get all the water out and allow you to cook the fish all the way through without leaving it raw in the middle.

 Caribbeans like to rinse meats with citrus fruit before cooking.  I think this is a waste of a lime and in the case of chicken, it is a good way to give yourself salmonella.

Fun fact: Allspice originates and is grown almost exclusively in Jamaica.  All the allspice that people use in cuisines throughout the world come from Jamaica.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish
1-2 lbs fish filets
vegetable oil
1.5 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 scotch bonnet or habanero chili, stem chopped off
1/2 tsp allspice
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 cups water
1/2 Tbsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup vinegar based hot sauce (optional)

1) Thaw fish completely and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut the fish into pieces.
2) Add oil to a pan sufficient to cover the bottom completely and heat it until it just starts to smoke.  I use a meat thermometer to monitor my progress.  Once it maxes out, I know I am on my way.
3) Fry the fish ~3 minutes on each side.  I should get nicely browned a slightly crispy.  Keep monitoring the heat so the fish continues to cook quickly, but doesn't burn.  Each time you toss another piece on, the oil cools off quickly.
4) Drain the fish on paper towels.
5) Discard the oil and add add 1-2 Tbsp fresh oil and heat over medium oil.
6) Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, allspice, and parsley.
7) Crank up the heat a bit and stir fry one minute.
8) Add water, salt, pepper, and fish.
9) Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, turn down the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes.
10) Toss in optional hot sauce and eat up.