Salt fish and bake
Enjoy a Caribbean treat of spiced salt fish stuffed inside slightly sweet bread rolls for a taste of seaside sunshine.
Ingredients
For the bread
- 250g/9oz plain flour
- 15g/½oz baking powder
- 4 tsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 60g/2½oz unsalted butter
- 150–180ml/5–6fl oz warm water
For the salt fish
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- ¼ Scotch bonnet chilli, chopped
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 500g/1lb 2oz shop-bought salt cod, soaked overnight and flaked
- 1 ripe beef tomato, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 spring onions, chopped
- black pepper
To serve
- Caribbean hot sauce
Method
To make the bread, add all the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine using a dough hook, gradually adding the butter.
Add the water and continue to mix to form a dough. Knead on medium speed in the mixer for about 5 minutes, then remove the dough and allow to rest for 20 minutes, covered in the bowl.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Alternatively, preheat a deep-fat fryer to 180C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
Roll the dough into balls (8 in total) then flatten into 2.5cm/1in thick rounds. Bake for 15–20 minutes or deep fry for 6–9 minutes, until golden brown.
To make the salt fish, heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onions, garlic, pepper, chilli and thyme. Sweat gently for 10 minutes until soft. Add the salt cod, tomato and paprika and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the spring onions and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and season with black pepper.
Stuff the salt fish inside the bakes and serve with Caribbean hot sauce alongside.
