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Stacked salt fish and bake in a plate
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Soft & Fluffy Bake and Saltfish

Get a taste of Caribbean cuisine with soft and fluffy bake and saltfish. Serve soft, airy fried bake and savory sautéed saltfish for breakfast.
Course Bread, Breads, Breakfast
Cuisine Caribbean, Guyanese
Keyword bake and saltfish guyanese, guyanese bake and saltfish, how to make bake and saltfish, how to make guyanese bake and saltfish, saltfish and bake, soft and fluffy bake, soft and fluffy bakes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 1760kcal

Equipment

  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • Large Skillet or Frying Pan

Ingredients

Soft and Fluffy Bake

  • 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon rapid rising yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter room temperature
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 ½ cups sunflower oil or similar for frying

Saltfish

  • 1 lb salted fish cod, pollock or Guyanese banga mary
  • 12 cups boiling water
  • 3 tablespoons avocado oil or similar
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves grated
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • ½ green bell pepper sliced
  • ½ red bell pepper sliced
  • 1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme
  • ¼ cup cilantro leaves finely chopped
  • 1 wiri wiri pepper diced (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut aminos optional
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced

Instructions

Soft and Fluffy Bake

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, rapid rising yeast and salt and mix together well. Then rub 2 tablespoons of butter into the flour mixture until it forms a crumbly texture.
  • Next, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Then make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the sugar water mixture to the well. Mix in the flour with the sugar water to form a soft dough. Lightly knead together to form a soft ball. Do not overwork the dough. It does not need to be smooth.
  • Place the dough into a greased bowl then rub a tablespoon of butter over the top of the dough. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and rest it for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, separate the dough into 8 pieces then shape each piece into a smooth ball. You can do this by cupping the dough ball in your hand and gently rolling it on a clean surface. You can also roll it on your palm.
  • When ready to cook, heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Then press each piece of dough out on a floured surface until it is a flat disk about ½ inch thick. When the oil is hot, add a pressed out dough to the pan then immediately start to spoon hot oil over the bake until it inflates. Continue to cook the bake until it is golden brown (about 1 ½ minutes) on the side that is in the oil. Then flip over and continue to cook until the other side is also completely brown (about 1 minute). Remove from the oil and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Repeat the frying process for the remaining pieces of dough.
  • Slice your bake open and stuff it with sauteed saltfish.

For the Saltfish

  • Rinse the salt fish under running water until all of the residual salt is removed then soak it in 3 cups of boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse the salt fish and soak in another 3 cups or enough water so that it is fully submerged. Leave for 15 minutes then drain and rinse. Taste a piece of the saltfish for saltiness. If needed, soak with boiling water for another 15 minutes, then rinse.
  • Remove any bones from the salt fish, then flake and with a fork until there are no big chunks.
  • Add a skillet to medium heat and add the avocado oil. When the oil is hot add the onions and cook until translucent (about 1 minute) then add the garlic and the tomato paste.
  • Continue to cook for another minute, then add the bell peppers. Cook for another minute until the bell peppers soften then add the flaked fish, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder. wiri wiri pepper and coconut aminos if using. Mix together well. Then increase the heat to high and continue to cook for another 5 minutes stirring often. It is okay if the fish starts to char a bit while cooking, this allows the rich flavors to develop.
  • Once all the flavors come together, remove from the heat and add the scallions. Serve with your hot soft and fluffy bakes.

Notes

As you become comfortable with frying the bakes you may cook two at once. Once the first bake inflates, add the second bake and spoon over top with hot oil. Then flip over the first bake so it browns on both sides. Next flip over the second bake. Remove the first bake from the oil then add a new piece of dough to the oil and start spooning over the top with hot oil. Repeat this rotation for the remaining pieces of dough.

Nutrition

Calories: 1760kcal | Carbohydrates: 119g | Protein: 84g | Fat: 105g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 79g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 195mg | Sodium: 8567mg | Potassium: 2010mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 1238IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 393mg | Iron: 9mg