Sautéed Salt Fish

Sautéed Salt Fish is a Caribbean staple. Salt (salted) fish is boiled to reconstitute and remove the salt, then sautéed with fresh herbs and veggies.

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine Caribbean, Guyanese

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories 286kcal

Equipment

Large Saucepan
Large Sauté Pan

Ingredients

1 lb salted cod or other salted fish
About 8 cups water for boiling
2 large tomatoes diced
1 cup of baby bell peppers thinly sliced
5 heads of green onions finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic grated
1 tablespoons dried thyme
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
2-4 tablespoons of oil

Instructions

Boiling the Fish to remove the salt

Add salt fish filets to a bowl, then rinse with cool running water to remove as much residual salt as possible. If time allows, you may soak fish for 24 hours or overnight if possible, In 4-6 cups of cool water after rinsing
Next, add salt fish and 4 cups of water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot, as salt fish tends to boil over if left unattended. Reduce the heat to medium low, if bubbles rise to the top of the pot.
After about 15 minutes, drain water, then add an additional 4 cups of water, bring to a boil and boil for another 15 minutes. This helps to remove as much of the salt as possible.
Next drain fish from water, then rinse with cool water and set aside for a few minutes to allow fish to cool
When thee fish cools, flake with a fork or your fingers until all the flesh is completely flaky

Sautéing the cooked salt fish

Bring 3 tablespoons of oil up to temperature in a large sauté pan on medium heat
Then add tomatoes, ⅔ green onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook until tomatoes are soft, then add the flaked salt fish, thyme and cayenne pepper
Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking. Once the fish has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from the heat and add the remaining green onions.

Notes

I don't add any additional salt to the dish because even after boiling the fish to remove the salt, it can still be salty
If you don't have time to soak your salt fish over night or even for a few hours don't worry, you can simply repeat the boiling steps 3-4 times to remove some of the excess salt.
Be sure to taste a piece of the salt fish after you've boiled and drained it twice to confirm that most of the salt has been removed. If it is still too salty, drain the boiling water, add fresh water and boil again for another 10 minutes.

Nutrition