Jamaican Korean Spicy Pork Chop

Spicy pork chop with quick stir fry of baby corn and carrot

I have never found Korean Red Pepper Paste by itself to be particularly spicy or interesting. I wondered what a fusion with some Jamaican Jerk would do to it, and whether the two types of seasoning would “play” nicely together. I thought the best thing would be to try it on a pork chop first to see what the result would be. The sauce is very thick, and spicy, made more interesting by the sharpness of the jerk seasoning, and the extra shallot and garlic. I did not know what to call this so it’s just what it is, Jamaican Korean Spicy Pork Chop!

Ingredients

Some ingredients you need

1 8 oz pork chop, ½ -3/4 inch thick

2 tsp Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang)

1 tsp wet jerk seasoning (I use either Grace or Walkerswood brands)

1 shallot

1 clove garlic

3 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp honey

½ inch piece of peeled ginger root

Method

1. Put the pork chop in a Ziploc bag
2. Put all ingredients for the marinade/sauce in a small blender and blitz to a paste
3. Pour paste over the pork chop, and rub over the pork chop in the bag
4. Refrigerate overnight
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chop from the plastic bag and wrap pork chop and marinade completely in foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Unwrap the chop and turn it over. Bake uncovered for another 5 minutes.Plate cop and spoon thickened sauce over it.

 

Gold Habanero Ginger Jelly

Most people are afraid to use Habaneros because they are such hot peppers. However, if the heat is tempered with sugar and other spices, it really tones things down a lot. This is my version of a Habanero Jelly that does not make a huge quantity. The preparation time is a little long and tedious but the final result is worth the effort. For most people, it's advisable to wear gloves when handling the peppers but since I've been handling these peppers for most of my life, I do not! Make sure that all the peppers selected are blemish free, and firm. The jelly makes a nice condiment for spicy dishes, and goes well with cream cheese and saltine crackers.
Ingredients

1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricot (you can also used dried Mango or dried Pineapple)

¼ cup dried cranberries or Golden Raisins
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced shallot

1 clove of garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp ground Coriander (optional but I like the Citrus taste of this spice)

½-1 tsp peeled, freshly grated ginger root (depending on your taste and liking for a "gingery" taste)
1/4 cup finely diced Red jalapeno peppers without seeds
1/4 cup finely diced Gold habanero pepper, without seeds  
Method
 

1. Cut apricots into thin slices and place in a non-reactive saucepan or pot with the vinegar, ground Coriander, cranberries(or raisins), and grated ginger. Heat slowly to just below simmer then remove from heat and let sit for 2-4 hours. This extracts the pectin from the dried fruit and helps with the jelling process.
2. Finely dice the shallot, garlic, and all the peppers.Add to pan with apricots. Stir in sugar.
4. Heat mixture to the point just below simmer, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved, and the shallots become translucent. Do not boil as this will boil off the vinegar. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and immediately stir in liquid pectin, mixing well. You have to work quickly at this stage as the mixture does jell pretty quickly. Stir until all the solids are mixed and evenly distributed in the mixture.
8. Pour into hot sterilized jars before it gets too firm. 
9. Cover with appropriate lids, and refrigerate if you are not going to can.

Fusion Fish Curry

This recipe is more about the sauce, and the fusion of cooking styles, and less about the type of fish that is used. It draws on Malaysian, South Indian, Jamaican and Sri Lankan curry to come up with a unique tasting sauce. The sauce has a lot of ingredients, which gives it tremendous depth and complexity of flavor. The fish should be in small pieces so that it can readily absorb the sauce. I used a whole Red Snapper, cut into 3 pieces, which was not ideal. This recipe could be used with any fish fillet, sliced Kingfish, chunks of fish meat, and even frozen fish fingers for a really quick meal! I’ll try it with Catfish meat next time. 

Ingredients

1 lb any kind of firm fish meat or fillet

Grace Caribbean Traditions Fish Seasoning

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp Jamaican or any type of Caribbean curry powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

½ tsp salt

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 medium sized shallot, chopped finely

Few sprigs of thyme

1-2 green onions, only green part, thinly sliced

2 small plum tomatoes, pureed

1-2 tbsp coconut milk

1-2 tbsp water

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp Pickapeppa sauce or similar Tamarind based sauce

1 tbsp tomato chili sauce

2 tbsp chopped red bell pepper

1-2 tsp finely minced habanero pepper or 1-2 Thai Chili peppers, chopped

Method

1. Season the fish meat liberally with the salt and Fish Seasoning. If you have a good kitchen exhaust fan system, you can opt to brown the fish chunks in oil. I coated them with the cooking oil and put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes rather than frying. The idea is to just brown the outside with the seasoning to flavor the oil. Remove from oil.
2. Saute in the cooking oil, the shallots, garlic, green onions, thyme, grated ginger, curry powder, garam masala, minced Habanero pepper, cubes of red bell pepper, until it starts to smell fragrant, and the seasonings release their flavor. Add the Pickapeppa sauce, tomato chili sauce, coconut milk, sugar and water. Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes until the coconut milk starts to separate into oil.
3. Place the browned fish pieces in the sauce, cover and simmer until the fish is cooked (about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish meat).

 

Refrigerator Pickled Jalapenos

I like to make my own pickled Jalapenos! The ones you buy from the stores are often very soft, have turned a brown color, and really do not taste all that appealing. Naturally, for someone who grew up eating Habanero peppers daily, Jalapenos are considered mild. The Scovill number for most Jalapenos ranges from 2-12 whereas the Habanero starts at about 2000! I have kicked the usual pickling mixture up a notch by adding some spices, garlic, and of course, a piece of Habanero to each bottle. I usually make more pickling mixture than I need.
I have not quantified the number of Jalapenos you need. That's dependent on the size bottle you will be using, the size of the Jalapenos etc. This recipe is only for the pickling brine.

Pickled jalapeno mixture

1 ½ c vinegar

1 ½ c water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp Ball's Pickle Crisp

1 tbsp coriander seed

1 tsp pimento (Allspice) seeds

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 small carrot, sliced

1 small shallot, sliced

One small slice of habanero to each bottle

1. Clean and sterilize the containers well. Even though this is a recipe for refrigerator pickles (not canned) the same principles of preparing the bottles apply. Use only firm peppers that are nice and smooth with no blemishes. I sometimes add 1-2 red ones as well just for color. Wash the peppers and slice them up. Do the same with the carrots and the shallot. 

2. Bring the pickling mixture, the sliced garlic and the seeds to low simmer, just below boil. Don’t boil. Let it cool to room temperature. 

3. Pack peppers, carrots, shallots in a jar, Pour cool pickling liquid mixture over peppers in jar. Distribute the various seed spices between bottles if you are using more than one. Cover and refrigerate. Because this is a cold pickling method, they take about 2 weeks to mature.

Oven Baked Jamaican Fricasseed Chicken

Fricasseed Chicken is a Jamaican staple. The original method involves seasoning the chicken with the onions, garlic etc, and letting it marinate overnight. Then you would have to remove the onions etc before frying the chicken pieces in a lot of oil, and all before stewing it gently in the sauce. This is a new way of making this less greasy. I have also modified the way the sauce is made as I always hated to have to pick out the chunks of onion, green onions, and thyme sprigs in the sauce. All that stuff made it more difficult to enjoy the sauce over the rice unless you removed all the bits and pieces before eating. In addition, because it uses a variety of baking methods (Bake, steam bake, and broil) the flavors are more complex than you get from just stewed chicken. This has the flavors of an oven roasted, BBQ, steamed chicken. It is traditionally served with rice and red beans, fried plantain, sliced tomato and lettuce.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, skin on

Grace Chicken, Dried Jerk, or All Purpose Seasoning

½ tsp salt

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp cooking oil to mix with raw chicken plus 1 tbsp oil to fry the onion etc

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tbsp Pickapeppa Sauce

1 inch ginger root, peeled and finely grated

1 Medium sized onion, cut into wedges

3 Roma Tomatoes, cut into wedges

3 cloves Garlic

1 yellow or red Habanero pepper, left whole

A few sprigs of thyme, use the leaves, not the stems.

4-5 Allspice grains

3 stalks Green onions, both white and green parts

½ cup cubed green or red bell pepper (or both) (optional)

1/2 cup Tomato chili sauce (I use the Maggi brand made for the Indian market)

Method

1. Score the chicken pieces by making one or two cuts on both sides of the chicken down to the bone
2. Season liberally with the All Purpose, Jerk or Chicken Seasoning (whichever one you opt to use). I also add an extra ½ tsp salt as the bottled seasoning, in my opinion, needs more. Rub the seasoning into the chicken, especially into the slashed areas.
3. Put the chicken pieces in a Ziploc bag and add the Worcester Sauce, Pickapeppa Sauce, Honey, cooking oil, and grated ginger. Mix the pieces well by squeezing the bag and marinate in fridge overnight.
4. When you are ready to start making the dish, fry the onion, whole Habanero pepper, tomatoes, garlic and green onions in about 1 tbsp cooking oil for about 3-4 minutes until the onion starts to break apart, and become translucent and soft. This mixture, including the Habanero, flavors the oil and allows it to transfer the flavor to the dish. Remove from heat, REMOVE THE HABANERO WHOLE and put aside. Puree the other things in a food processor or blender. After blending, add the thyme, allspice grains, and tomato chili sauce to this pureed mixture.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and place the chicken pieces skin side up in a heat proof Pyrex oven roaster (or any other roaster). Bake at this high heat until the chicken skin is browned, and the seasonings smell fragrant (20-25 minutes). Remove from oven. At this stage you may discard the oil in the dish if you wish. If it’s a lot from the chicken skin, I do that. DO NOT however remove the skin!
6. Pour the pureed mixture of onions, tomatoes, etc, over the partially baked and browned chicken pieces. Place the whole Habanero pepper on top. If you have opted to use the bell peppers, sprinkle over the top as well. Cover the dish with foil, decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for 45 minutes. This allows the chicken to steam bake in the sauce, and absorb its flavors, and for the sauce to absorb the flavors from the seasonings on the chicken. It also allows the Habanero to flavor the sauce without it becoming too spicy (as it would if you sliced or chopped it up).
7. Remove from oven and take the foil off. Make sure that the chicken pieces are well mixed in with the sauce. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F, and let the sauce bubble and thicken as it cooks in the oven.
8. Remove from oven, taste the sauce and if needed, season to your liking (rather than adding more spicy seasoning at this stage, I add a chicken bouillon cube, crumbled and mixed into the sauce). Place the roaster pan under a broiler, and broil until the skin on the chicken pieces develops a slight char in areas (as seen in the photo), and the sauce starts to bubble. Enjoy!

Kale and Salted Cod (Bacalau) Jamaican Style “Cook Down”

Kale and Salted Cod with Yam and Avocado

This is one of those Jamaican Recipes for which there are no measurements, only a list of ingredients, some cooking notes, and a method of how to prepare the dish. The proportions are really dependent on your taste, and liking for each ingredient. This is a recipe that can be made to your specifications. Some people may like it more “Vegetarian” with more vegetables than fish, others may prefer it the other way round. It is based on the traditional Jamaican “Yard Food” type of one pot cooking, specifically “Callalloo and Salt Fish” which also forms a part of any Jamaican Sunday morning breakfast. I have tried to make it a bit healthier but also without sacrificing any of the flavors. So, instead of Callalloo, a green leafy vegetable used throughout the Caribbean, I have used Kale. It is usually eaten with a starch that ranges from a Fried bread dough  (Johnny Cake or Festival), or with root vegetables like Yellow Yam, Sweet Potato, Malanga etc. Sliced Avocado and fried ripe plantain also go well with this. 

List of Ingredients

Kale

Salted Cod Filets

Shallots

Tomatoes

Habanero Pepper

Red Bell Pepper

Thyme

Salt Pork (Fatback) or 1-2 slices thick cut bacon

Salt, black Pepper, Ground Allspice are the traditional seasonings but one can use any prepared multipurpose seasoning of your choice. For added flavor you can use a couple dashes of Worcester Sauce OR Tomato Ketchup OR Tomato Chili Sauce, depending on your preference (Yes the recipe is that versatile)

Notes

1. To prepare the salted cod, I soak overnight in the fridge, changing the water at least twice. I usually pay more for the salted cod fillets rather than the flat sheets of salted cod as they are too hard to separate the bones from the meat. When I am ready to use it, I discard the water in which it has been soaking, add fresh water and bring it to a boil, changing the water each time it boils to discard the foam that comes from boiling the fish. Once it comes to a boil with minimal foaming, I cook it for between 5-7 minutes until it flakes easily.  I then shred it for the recipe, coating the pieces in a small amount of olive oil so that they don’t clump together.
2. To prepare the Kale, I remove the stems, and chop the leaves like you would any other leafy vegetable.
3. Chop the garlic cloves finely, peel the shallots and cut into thin slices. Cut into thin slices however much of the Habanero you want to use. Cut the bell pepper and tomato into small cubes. I put the tomato in a separate bowl to which I add the sprigs of thyme, and I add the cubes of bell pepper to the bowl with the shallots, sliced Habanero and garlic.
4. Cut a small piece of salted pork into small pieces. Use however much you think you would like. I just use enough to give it flavor. Thick cut bacon or pieces of country ham may also be used. These seasoning bits are fried in a small amount of oil, rendering them down until cooked and crisp. Add these to the bowl with the flaked, cooked, salted cod. Since the oil that the salted pork or whatever you have decided to use is what extracts the flavor and transfers it to the rest of the ingredients, reserve 1 tbsp of the oil, and discard the rest that has resulted from the rendering process. 

Method

1. Heat the reserved 1 tbsp oil that resulted from the rendering of the salted meat, and sauté the shallots, garlic, sliced Habanero in it. Once the shallots have become transparent, add the cubed tomato, bell pepper and thyme sprigs. Sauté all for a minute or two, then add the seasonings you have decided to use as well as the sauce you have selected.
2. Add the flaked salted cod and fried salted meat, then cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the bell pepper is cooked to your liking (some people like this well cooked i.e soft, others more “al dente”.)
3. Add the washed, chopped kale leaves on top of the mixture in the frying pan or wok, mix well and cover to steam until the kale is cooked to your liking. Add more seasoning at this stage if needed. Plate and enjoy with the starch of your choice, and some slices of avocado or fried ripe plantains!

Jamaican Steamed Fish in Coconut Milk

Fish topped with pickled Jalapenos and accompanied by Chayote, Carrots and Korean Yam

This is a dish my Mother would make whenever I was recovering from some illness. She was a firm believer in the nutritional goodness of fish. It is a very delicately flavored dish, not spicy but also not bland, and with an added sweetness that comes from cooking in coconut milk. I use a whole Red Snapper but any thick, firm fish filet would also work just fine. This is a very quick dish to prepare. I usually have it with steamed vegetables like chayote squash, carrots and Korean Yam. This method of cooking in coconut milk is very common throughout the Caribbean, and features prominently in Rastafarian cooking. If one wanted, this dish can easily be converted to a curry by the addition of curry powder, sauteed with the scallion greens, prior to adding the tomato puree and coconut milk. It would then be similar to a Malayan Rendang.

Ingredients

1 shallot

1 Tbsp Coconut oil

3 cloves garlic

1 ½ lb Fish (whole or a thick filet.)

Grace Caribbean Traditions Fish Seasoning (though I would imagine Old Bay Seasoning would do just as well)

A handful of Scallion greens

1 Roma tomato, cut in wedges

½ cup thick Coconut milk ( I like the Badia brand)

1 Wylers chicken bouillon cube

4-5 slices Habanero pepper

Method

1. Season the fish liberally with the Fish Seasoning. Coat with oil and put on a rack in a broiler pan
2. Cut the shallot and Roma tomato into small wedges, leave the garlic cloves whole. Thinly slice the scallion greens.
3. In a frying pan or wok, heat the coconut oil, and sauté the garlic, tomato wedges, and shallots for about 4-5 minutes. Turn off heat. Take them out of the oil and put them in a bowl. Put the scallion greens and the habanero slices in the oil so that they can gently infuse the oil with their flavors as it cools, and you are preparing the fish.
4. Puree the sautéed garlic, shallots and tomatoes in a blender.
5. Crumble the bouillon cube into the coconut milk
6. Place the fish under a broiler for about 5 minutes while you prepare the sauce. On medium high heat, sauté the scallion greens and habanero that is already in the frying pan or wok. Add the tomato puree, and the seasoned coconut milk. Bring to a boil while stirring.
7. Remove the fish from under the broiler and carefully place it in the bubbling sauce. Cover and steam for about 5-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Baste with sauce intermittently while cooking.
8. Plate and enjoy.