Delicious Jamaican Cuisines And Pastries With Recipes

You many not find sweet & sour chicken cooked in every home but you will find it in on their menu at lot of restaurants

Plantain is a popular fruit grown locally that is served as a side dish with many Jamaican cuisines. Plantain is a versatile fruit and can be used in pastries and other delicious dishes when ripe. It can be used ripe or green depends on what purpose you are using it for. You can use green plantains for a good bowl of porridge, deep fried to make chips or just fry crispy for breakfast or brunch. Green fried plantain can be enjoyed with some steam cabbage, bacon and eggs or ackee and salt fish.

Fried Ripe Plantains

Below is a simple chicken soup with pumpkin, squash, corn and some little dumplings they call pillars. If you are a vegan person, this soup can be cooked without chicken and it’s still delicious. I like my soup simple but most Jamaican add different food kind to chicken soup such as yam, breadfruit, dumplings, cocoa, etc. None the less, it’s still delicious how ever you make it.

Recipe

Serve about 6-8 people

1 lb chicken (legs or thighs

1 1/2 cups cubed carrot or baby carrot

1 1/2 cups pumpkin cut up

1 1/2 cups banana squash sliced

1 cup zucchini sliced

1 tsp all purpose seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder or 4 pieces of garlic chopped

1/2 tsp salt

6 pieces of corns

4 irish potatoes cut in 4 pieces each

1/2 tsp of dried thyme

1/2 lb flour (optional)

Preparation

(1) Boil chicken in 2 quarts of water for about 30-40 minutes

(2) Add pumpkin and carrot to chicken for another 10 minutes

(3) Add salt, all purpose seasoning, garlic and stir pot

(4) Drop in corn and irish potatoes

(5) Let corn and irish potatoes cook before adding zucchini and banana squash slices.

(6) Sprinkle in thyme

(7) Let soup simmers, stirring occasionally that nothing sticks to pot

(8) Taste if soup is to your satisfaction and then turn off stove

Note:

In most homes in Jamaica soup is usually cooked on Thursdays or Saturdays. It’s usually beef soup, pepper pot soup, chicken soup, fish soup or (fish tea), peas soup which is made with different kinds of (beans, lentils, pigeon peas, red peas). Jamaicans puts different vegetables in their soup as well as other things like yam, coco-yam, breadfruit, banana, potatoes and other ground provisions, along with dumplings (plain flour dumplings or mixed with cornmeal). This depends on the type of soup you are making. There is also the manish water soup made from goat head and intestines. You will find the manish water soup mostly at the dance halls where they are keep a dance or a party. All these soups are very delicious! Below is a pot of fish soup.

Recipe

Servings of 6

1 lb of fish head or whole fish (Use fish with less bones)

2 quart cold water

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 sprig green thyme or 1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 stalks escallion

3-4 green bananas

4-6 irish potatoes cut in 4 pieces each

sprinkle of dried pepper (scotch bonnet preferred)

1 cup pumpkin cubes

Preparation

(1) Boil fish in water with salt for about 20 minutes

(2) Take fish out of liquid and remove all the flesh from the bone and set aside

(3) Take the fluid that the fish was boiled in and strain through to remove any bone

(4) Put both liquid and fish back in pot and continue boiling

(5) Add irish potatoes, pumpkin and garlic

(6) Cut up green bananas in 1 inch thick circles (wash and don’t peel) add to pot along with rest of ingredients

(7) Cook for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Note: You can add dumplings, carrot and other vegetable to your likeness

This dish is one of Jamaicans main cuisines. It’s served in many restaurant and homes. Jamaicans likes the crispiness of the chicken. This dish is served with rice & peas, shredded cabbage and carrot. Dish can also be served with white rice and other vegetables..

Recipe

Serve 4-6 people

• 3-4 lbs chicken legs or thighs
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to wash chicken
• 3 tbsp all purpose seasoning
• 2 tsp jerk season powder or hot sauce (optional to make chicken a little spicy)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (optional)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup evaporate milk
• 4 cup seasoned bread crumbs or finely crush corn flakes
• 1/2 cup flour
• Oil for frying chicken (enough to half cover chicken when frying). Can also deep fry if you have a deep fryer
• Preparation:
• (1) Soak chicken in water with vinegar or lime juice for 10 minutes
• (2) Drain water from chicken
• (3) Season chicken with all purpose season, thyme, black pepper, and hot sauce or jerk season (jerk powder optional)
• (4) Make sure you get the season into the chicken, do not remove skin, set aside in fridge for 1-2 hours.
• (5) Beat egg, milk and paprika, in a dish and set aside.
• (6) Mixed bread crumps or crushed corn flakes and flour together in a dish and set aside.
• (7) Dip chicken in egg, milk and, paprika mixture then dip into bread cups mixture (can do it without milk also)
• (8) Roll over chicken in bread crumps mixture until it is covered
• (9) Heat enough oil in frying pan to half cover chicken, oil should be hot but not smokey hot
• (10) Gradually lower the chicken with a fork into the hot oil.
• (11) Fry slowly until oil penetrate the inside of the chicken turning pieces occasionally
• (12) Inside of chicken should be properly cook and outside should be golden brown and crispy
• Note: If you want to make gravy for the chicken, just pour off some of the oil that you cooked with to about 1/4 cup. Cut up onion and other ingredients you want to put in it. Take 2 tablespoons of the bread crumbs mixture and 1 cup of water and combined with the other ingredients and simmer down in the oil until mixture is a little thickened

This is one of our favorite Jamaican cuisines, ackee cooked with salt fish (cod fish or bacalao). Ackee is known by all Jamaican as the “National Dish of Jamaica”. Below is a dish of fried festival dumplings, fried plantains and ackee and salt fish.

Recipe

Servings: 4-6

1 tin ackee (in the international isle in any major supermarket)

1/2 lb boneless salted fish (cod fish or bacalao)

1 onion cut in onion rings

2 medium tomato cut up

1 large sweet pepper cut up (any color)

1/2 tsp jerk powder or jerk paste (optional) 

1/4 cup olive oil or (vegetable oil)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preparation

(1) Bring to boil 1/2 lb boneless salted fish (cod fish) in a pot with water, boil for about 10 minutes

(2) Pour off hot water and soak salt fish in cold water separating into pieces for another hour or two (better if soaked overnight (less salt)

(3) Prepare ackee by opening tin, drain water of and put in a pot with boiling water for 5 minutes

(4) Strain water off ackee and set aside

(5) Cut up onion, tomato and pepper like image (1) above, set aside

(6) Prepare salted fish (cod fish)as above searching for any bones as in image (2)

(7) Combine salt fish, cut up onion, tomato and sweet pepper along with jerk powder or sauce (optional) and black pepper like image (3)

(8) Heat oil in pot and add all combine ingredients, stir occasionally for 3 minutes

(9) Pure in ackee and stir everything together and let it sauté for another 8 minutes

(10) Serve hot with fried dumplings, bread etc.

Note: Some people adds beacon or corn pork

There is a population of Jamaican that does not eat pork meat, but I would say that most does. There are many ways that we cook pork meat. Some of our favorite ways are to jerk, pot roasted and braised. Below is a simple dish of braised pork chops.

Recipe

Serve 2-3 people

1+1/2 -2lbs thick pork chops

1/4 cup seasoned or plain breadcrumbs

1 tbsp jerk powder

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp garlic powder or 4 cloves chopped garlic

1 tsp all purpose seasoning

2 tbsp vinegar or 1 medium lemon

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 beaten egg (optional) or 1/2 milk

Preparation:

(1) Wash pork chops in vinegar or lemon water

(2) Season pork chops with jerk powder, black pepper, garlic powder, all purpose seasoning using fork to stab little holes in meat

(3) Cover pork chops and put in refrigerator, let it marinate in seasoning for 2 hrs to overnight.

(4) When you are ready to cook, heat you oven to 350 degree

(5) Put pork chops in baking dish and add water to let it steam for about 30 minutes (this keep moisture in when ready to fry)

(6) Prepare bread crumbs and set aside

(7) Prepare beaten egg or milk in another dish and set aside

(8) Heat oil on stove to about medium hot

(9) Take steamed pork chops out of oven, remove from fluid and set fluid aside

(10) Dip pork chops in egg or milk mixture and then into the bread crumbs, make sure the it’s saturated with the bread crumbs on both sides

(11) Gently put pork chops in medium hot oil and let it fry on both sides to a crispy brown, do not burn

(12) When pork chops is all brown, set aside

(13) Take fluid that was set aside from the steamed pork along with 1/4 cup of the used oil and put back on the stove

(14) Add a little of the used crumbs and let it simmer until it get a little thick like in image above

Note: You can pour the gravy on the pork chops or keep them separated until ready to serve.

There was no egg used on the pork chops above.

Jamaican Jerked Chicken is one of our main cuisines that is served at most functions in Jamaica. It’s one of those cuisines that you can fine when you drive along certain roads in Jamaica. People will set-up their little Jerk Shop and people can buy from them. Sometimes there are no restaurant that is near, so these people can do good business by selling food to passers by.

Jerked Chicken can either be baked in the oven or on a grill. I like to season my chicken the same day I take it home from the groceries. All my meats are soaked in vinegar water before seasoning. You can also soak your meat in lemon or lime juice water. I don’t like handling raw meat twice so I properly seasoned and put away in the freezer until I am ready to cook. The more it’s marinated, the better it is. Jerk chicken is all about the seasoning or spiced that is used to get that unique taste. It won’t be jerk chicken unless you use those unique blend of Jamaican spices. 

Jamaican Jerked Chicken (Oven And Grilled Baked)

Serving for 12-14 People (For less people split in half)

All Jamaican Jerk Seasoning can be found in the International Isle in any supermarket

4 whole chickens or 2×5 pounds bags of chicken quarters (thighs or legs)

2 tsp jerk season paste or powder to 1 pound of cut up chicken (season comes in hot, medium and mild in powder or paste)

1 tbsp browning sauce (depends on how dark you want you chicken) Adjust if needed

3 tsp all purpose season or 1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vinegar

12 cloves of garlic finely chopped or blended

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 or 2 baking pans (depending on how much meat you are preparing)

Preparation Oven Baked

(1) Thawed chicken overnight inside of refrigerator

(2) In a deep container add water and vinegar

(3) Put chicken to soak in vinegar water for about 10-15 minutes (you can leave the skin on for grill). I like to strip off when I do oven baked)

(4) Mix the garlic, browning and jerk paste, all purpose season or salt together and set aside

(5) Completely drain vinegar water off chicken

(6) Pour ingredient on chicken except cooking oil, use cooking gloves or if you don’t mind rubbing in those ingredient with your hand until it’s all mixed in

(7) Let the chicken marinates in the sauce for about 2 hours or overnight in the fridge

(8) When your are ready to cook, put you oven at 350-375 degrees and when the oven is heated up, lay your chicken in one or two baking pans

(9) Separate oil in two depended on how many baking pans are being used.

(10) Put oil over chicken and cover with foil to steam (the foil keeps the fluid in and allow the meat to cook)

(11) Remove foil after 30-40 minutes

(12) Continue baking until the chicken is brown, tender, juicy and cooked.

Grill Baked Chicken

Same ingredient preparation are used but a little different in preparing.

(1) If you are using whole chicken cut up in 4 pieces per chicken. Leave the skin on. Follow the same procedure in seasoning.

(2) Stick the chicken in the oven to par-cook for about 15-20 minutes so that when you grill, it will keep the moisture in.

(2) Prepare your grill as you would when you are doing a barbecue

(3) When grill is ready, lay out chicken as in the picture above, let it grill until it has that nice juicy brown look. When you take step 2 as in Grill Baked Chicken, you can use the juice from the chicken to marinate it.

Note: If you are going to use beer liquid on, try it first on a small amount to see if you like the flavor. When chicken is grilled you can cut up in smaller pieces