Grilled Jerk Shrimp with Aji Panca Sauce

Jerk Shrimp with Aji Panca, Avocado and Quinoa Tabouleh

Note how the sauce coats the shrimp

 

 

Aji Panca is one of the weaker members of the chili pepper family. The heat level is about 1500 on the Scoville Scale (slightly hotter than a Jalapeno). Aji Panca is a type of chile pepper that is commonly grown in Peru, and frequently used in Peruvian cuisine. It is dark red, mild pepper with a smoky, fruity taste. It's often sold dried, or prepared into a paste. You can find the dried peppers and jarred paste in Latin food stores. To a “Pepperhead”, the paste tastes just like tomato paste with very little spiciness to it. However, it compliments other hotter sauces and seasonings well, and when balanced with sweetness, creates a sauce of good complexity, depth and heat! It pairs well with shrimp, especially when grilled. This broiled/grilled shrimp is the result of mixing the two seasonings. The leftovers (if any are left) go great in a seafood noodle soup recipe, similar to the one published in my earlier post. I paired this with a Quinoa Tabouleh, and Avocado. 

Ingredients

Jerk seasoning (wet or dry, I used dry)

½ lb raw shrimp, cleaned, and deveined

1 tsp honey

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp Aji Panca Paste

1 tsp Marukan Vinegar (I suppose ordinary vinegar could also be used)

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp Sriracha sauce (or Garlic Chili sauce could be substituted)

Method

1. Season the clean shrimp liberally with the Jerk Seasoning
2. Add the salt, honey, vinegar, Sriracha, cooking oil, and Aji Panca paste. Mix well and allow it to marinate for about 20 minutes.
3. Place the shrimp on a rack in a small roasting tray lined with foil (makes cleanup easier), and place under broiler until shrimp are cooked. I turn them once just to get a char on both sides.

Jerk Pork Chop With Aji Amarillo Mango Salsa

Jerk Pork Chop With Aji Amarillo Mango Salsa

Aji Amarillo Peppers

Aji amarillo is a bright-orange, thick-fleshed chili pepper that is Native to South America. It is used in bothe Peruvian and Bolivian cuisine. The heat level is mild when compared to the Habanero or Scotch Bonnet pepper. It adds a kind of slow, background warmth to sauces, and that can be quite pleasant. Jerk seasoning would be at the other end of the scale. I wondered what it would be like to combine the two, using dried mango to add the necessary sweetness that would balance both, and compliment the fruity taste of the Aji Amarillo. This is the result! It’s not overly spicy but the salsa is very fruity, and with a pleasant background warmth.

Some ingredients you need

 Ingredients

2 pork loin chops, ¾-1” thick

1 tbsp Worcester Sauce

2 cloves garlic

1 small shallot

1 tsp finely chopped Habanero pepper

Dried Jerk Seasoning (any brand will work)

2 thin slices dried mango

1 tbsp Aji Amarillo Paste

  Method

1.      Sprinkle the dry jerk seasoning like you would a rub, over the pork chops. Add the Worcester sauce, and marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours.

2.      Remove chops from fridge, and place under broiler until both sides of the chop is sizzling and slightly charred. Remove from broiler

3.      Place the garlic, shallot, and dried mango in a small chopper and pulse until finely minced. Add the Aji Amarillo paste, and the finely minced Habanero to this and mix well.

4.      Divide this mixture into two, and put on top of each pork chop. Cover the roasting dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Tropical Green Tea Honey Ginger Tea Cake

This is a modification of a standard teabread recipe that I use but with the changes I made, it has a more cake like texture. The final product is lighter, and more crumbly than a bread, but not quite a cake. Because of the texture, I cut it in thick slices, and then cut those slices in 1/2 to serve. The flavors are very light, and tropical, and the color is very light due to the fact that it is made with green tea. White tea could also be used for this. I will publish a more bread like version, using the same flavors, at a later date.

Ingredients

2 oz dried apricots + 1 ½ oz dried mangos + 1 ½ oz dried sour cherries, all chopped finely

250 ml strong green or white tea (I use 2 teabags to the amount of water. I like to use Lipton Mango Peach flavored tea).

1 tbsp honey

3 oz sugar

4oz butter (or 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil)

9 oz self rising flour

1/2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp salt

1 tsp grated root ginger

1 tsp baking soda

  Method

1. Put all the chopped dried fruit in a bowl. Brew 250 ml strong tea and stir in the honey, and grated ginger root. Let all steep for about 15 minutes. Remove teabags.
2. Put the liquid mixture above into a saucepan, and add the butter, sugar, and dried fruit. Bring all to a boil, slowly, stirring continuously. Boil for 3-4 minutes then remove from heat to let cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. In a separate bowl, put the flour, salt, baking soda and coriander,
5. Mix wet and dry ingredients; stir the mix with a wooden spoon.
6. Transfer to a greased loaf tin (I also line the bottom of the tin with parchment paper) and bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool bread in tin for about 10 minutes then turn out to finish cooling on a wire rack. Cut into thick slices, and serve with butter if desired.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce

Ready to plate

Jerk Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce, Pickled Jalapenos, and Vietnamese Do Chua

Because I was very pleased with the National Brand Spicy Tamarind Chutney, I thought I would try to use their Mango Chili Sauce in a similar way. The combination of the very spicy Jerk Seasoning by Walkerswood was nicely offset by the sweetness of this mango sauce.Naturally, both sauces needed a little help with other things!

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken (wings, drumsticks, thighs, bone in, skin on)

Marinade

1 tbsp dry meat seasoning

3 tsp wet jerk seasoning (either Grace or Walkerswood brands)

1 tbsb pickapeppa sauce

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tbsp light or dark soya sauce

1 tbsp thick soy sauce (this is soy sauce mixed with Molasses. It gives the dish a slightly sweet flavor, and causes a nice char when the meat is broiled)

1 tbsp grated ginger

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

Add after broiling

1 300 gram bottle National Mango Chili Sauce (Available from most Indian or Pakistani grocery stores). 

Method

1. Score meat, add marinade ingredients, and refrigerate overnight in a Ziploc bag. Make sure to mix the marinade into the meat well.
2. I use a special broiler pan (see photo) but any type of roasting pan with a rack could be used. I line it with foil to make clean up easy.
3. When ready to cook, place the chicken parts on the rack so that the drippings can collect in the pan. I broil close to the broil element in my stove, turning once when the surface has charred slightly (see photo)
4. Remove from under broiler, and place the partially broiled chicken parts in the roasting pan. Cover with the whole bottle of Mango Chili Sauce. Cover with foil, and bake in oven at 360 degrees F for 45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, lift off foil, and then put the roasting pan under the broiler until the skin starts to sizzle and char (about 3-5 minutes).

Broiler pan

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).