Description
Bahamian Fish Stew is a very simple Bahamian breakfast dish prepared with pan fried fish cooked in a toasted roux sauce.
Ingredients
Stew
- 1 kg white flesh fish (I used snapper), whole or slice, your personal preference
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 cups water
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 spring fresh thyme
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- 1/3 cup oil
Dry Rub
- 1 birds’ eye or Serrano chillies, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp salt
Marinade
- 4 pcs whole allspice
- 2 large oranges, choose the sour variety
- 3 pcs limes
- 1 birds’ eye or Serrano chillies, finely chopped
Instructions
- Rub your fish with the dry rub ingredients, inside and out. Set it aside for 10 minutes in a bowl.
- Prepare your marinade by combining all marinade ingredients. Pour marinade into the dry rubbed fish, making sure the liquid is evenly distributed. Let it marinate for 10 minutes.
- In a large pan, heat the oil in medium heat. Sauté onions, celery and thyme for 2 minutes, using a slotted spoon remove vegetables then set it aside.
- Bring heat to medium high, pat dry the fish, reserve any marinade, then gently lower the fish into the pan. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, you don’t need to fully cook the fish, we just need to brown the outer layer.
- Remove the fish from the pan, lower heat then add the flour. Cook flour in oil while constantly stirring until it becomes brown in colour.
- Slowly add water 1/4 cup at a time while continuously mixing, cook until it start to thicken and even in consistency. Once it starts to thicken, add the tomato paste, mix well to combine.
- Add back the reserved vegetables together with the fish into the pan, bring it to a boil then put heat to low, simmer for 15 minutes.
- Pour a tablespoon of the reserved marinade, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper then serve.
Looks like a perfect dish for any meal, Raymund.
I never had anything in the Bahamas that looked this good! But I was on one of the out islands, and all we could get was fried conch. Definitely want to make this!
I’ve never cooked (or eaten, come to think of it) Bahamian food before! Thank you for this introduction. I’m so excited to learn about such a unique palate of bold flavors.
I think you will definiteky enjoy the Bahamian Rastafarian Cuisine, meat free and only clean and natural veg.
while the stew fish recipe itself is okay, please do not misrepresent the bahamas this way. rasta culture is jamaican in origin and very few bahamians practice it at all, esp to the extent of being vegan (aka ital).
Looks good. Bet the gravy would go so well with rice.
I’ve never had Bahamian food, but I definitely want to try this stew now. It looks wonderfully hearty and rich.
★★★★★