Jamaican Fish Tea is what I’d describe as a light soup or a broth soup. That’s because “real” Jamaican soups are thick, hearty and more like a stew. Also, unlike other Jamaican soups, fish tea can be made in less than an hour! Traditionally fish tea is made with small inexpensive fish like herring or sprat, but you can use any fish you like.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 lbs fresh fish. (You can use either the whole fish or have the fish filleted and use 2 lbs of the remainder for the soup. If you use the whole fish you should use 2.5 to 3 lbs. The fish must be fresh. Choose larger fish that have some fat — Porgy and Snapper are good examples– make sure the fish is properly scaled and cleaned.)
Seasonings
1 tablespoon Walkers Wood jerk seasoning or equivalent brand
1/4 oz. fresh thyme
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 teaspoon allspice (pimento beans)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon tomato paste
3 teaspoon salt
1 small green pepper (chopped)
14 cups water (a little less than a gallon)
Additional
1/2 lemon juiced
1 large carrot (chopped)
1 chocho (chayote) cut into 1.5-inch pieces
1 medium-sized turnip, cut into 1.5-inch pieces
1 medium-sized cassava, cut in 2-inch pieces*
After you have washed fish, cut in two-inch pieces across the skeleton. Bring fish and seasonings to a rapid boil in 14 cups of water, then add the lemon juice. Add the chocho, turnip, and cassava. Reduce heat and cook for 1.5 hours.
*Jamaicans add a variety of “hard food” such as coco, dasheen, “green” breadfruit, white potatoes, Jamaican yams (not sweet potatoes), green bananas, and dumplings to fish soup. You can substitute any of these for the cassava
