The Eat More Food Project

Great recipes with an emphasis on real, fresh ingredients

Navigation

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

By 27 Comments

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

I have been craving fish something serious lately! I popped into my local seafood market and spotted two gorgeous red snappers. I knew immediately what I was going to make with them. This is a classic Jamaican dish. I have vivid memories of sitting at the dinner table carefully removing little bones from the fish and shoveling rice, fish and gravy into my mouth. Cooking the fish still on the bones helps thicken the sauce. Despite the name, this isn’t a soup. It’s fish and gravy. The lady at the market asked me if I wanted the heads still on the fish when she cleaned them. Yes! Best part of the fish are the eyes! Just me?? 😀

4.7 from 10 reviews
Jamaican Brown Stew Fish
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Jamaican-style red snapper cooked in a sweet and spicy gravy
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 whole red snapper, gutted and de-scaled
  • 2 small yellow onions, cut into rings
  • 2 orange bell peppers, thinly sliced
  • 3 scallion, cut into large pieces
  • 1 tbsp garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp ground thyme
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp browning (optional)
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Chop the onions, peppers, scallion and garlic.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and water. Put the flour into the bowl first and then slowly add water while stirring so that the flour doesn’t end up in clumps.
  3. Cut the snapper into large pieces. I remove the side and top fins with kitchen shears and cut each fish into 3 pieces: head, body and tail.
  4. Add oil to a nonstick pan and heat on medium high heat.
  5. Gently fry each piece of fish for 1 minute per side, until slightly brown.
  6. In a large pot on medium heat, sauté the onions, peppers, scallion and garlic in butter for 5 minutes, until onion is slightly translucent.
  7. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the large pot, including the flour and water mixture.
  8. Snuggle the fish into the pot.
  9. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, flipping fish over halfway through.
  10. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 240 Fat: 4 Saturated fat: 2 Carbohydrates: 16 Sugar: 8 Sodium: 1513 Fiber: 3 Protein: 33 Cholesterol: 58

 

You’ll need:

  • 2 whole red snapper, gutted and de-scaled
  • 2 small yellow onions, cut into rings
  • 2 orange bell peppers, thinly sliced
  • 3 scallion, cut into large pieces
  • 1 tbsp garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp ground thyme
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp browning (optional)
  • Salt and pepper

 

Look at this fish!

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Next to sea bass, snapper is my favorite fish! You want to get fish with nice, clear eyes. That’s how you know it’s fresh.

Chop the onions, peppers, scallion and garlic. (or cheat like me and use pre-minced garlic)

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

In a small bowl, mix together the flour and water. Put the flour into the bowl first and then slowly add water while stirring so that the flour doesn’t end up in clumps.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Cut the snapper into large pieces. I remove the side and top fins with kitchen shears and cut each fish into 3 pieces: head, body and tail.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Add oil to a nonstick pan and heat on medium high heat.

Gently fry each piece of fish for 1 minute per side, until slightly brown. We aren’t looking to cook the fish all the way through, just to give it some color and firm up the flesh so it doesn’t fall apart in the sauce.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

In a large pot on medium heat, sauté the onions, peppers, scallion and garlic in butter for 5 minutes, until onion is slightly translucent.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the large pot, including the flour and water mixture.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

If you’ve never seen it before, this is what we call browning.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

I love the giant drip right above the “new dripless spout!” on the label. #fail

I use it in this dish out of habit mostly. It just adds a little background something to the dish and makes the sauce look lusher. You can skip it if you can’t find it, but if you have the opportunity, give it a try!

Snuggle the fish into the pot.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, flipping fish over halfway through.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

Season to taste with a little salt and pepper.

I serve this with rice and salad.

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

NEWSLETTER

Don't Miss Out! If you like what you see, sign up here to get an email with every new recipe I post.

Comments

    • Tekesha says

      Ha ha ha! I had a professor who traveled a lot to Asia for business. His entire stay, he would only eat steak. People said “How can you pass up the fresh sushi and unusual things?!” He said the same thing. “I don’t want my food looking at me.” It’s only fish I can do this with. I once had to steam a lobster and I called my husband in tears asking if he would be okay with having a lobster as a pet. I couldn’t get past the “face”. 😀

      Reply

  3. Vincent Samuels, Jr says

    Very nice, my granny use to cook this a lot and serve with rice and peas and stem cabbage. Definitely a winner, thanks dear.⬆️

    Reply

  4. Walida says

    Thank you! I just made this, using your recipe. I used to eat this all the time when my ex husband made it. It’s my first time making, I also made yellow rice and Caesar salad. Wow! It’s a blast from the past. So delicious!!

    Reply

  7. Wenona says

    I made this dish the other night and it was absolutely amazing!..it taste even better the next day!I did omit the soy sauce and salt due to the sodium count and added fresh tomatoes and Mrs. Dash seasoning. Thank You so much for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

    • Tekesha says

      Hi Nykky!
      Halibut and grouper have a similar texture and flavor to red snapper. One of the other commenters suggested the recipe also works well with salmon. Hope one of those options works for you! 🙂

      Reply

  9. Norma says

    I have made Brown Stew Chicken before so I am happy to find your recipe for fish. The only thing I changed was the amount of vinegar to 2 teaspoons. Very tasty!

    Reply

    • Tekesha says

      Hi, Renee! No, you don’t have to use the head of the fish. I think it adds to the flavor of the sauce and I like eating it, but feel free to not use it. 🙂

      Reply

  11. Tomoko says

    very nice dish. Thanks for sharing. I live in Japan and I can find all the ingredients at a local supermarket with no problem. This will be my tomorrow lunch.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Let’s Connect

I post new recipes HERE at least every Monday morning. Catch up with me on FACEBOOK for cooking tips and behind-the-scenes pictures. Follow me on INSTAGRAM to see what I'm eating/drinking that day. Check out my PINTEREST page for more recipes from around the internet and to catch a glimpse of what else I enjoy when I'm not cooking. I'm an avid RSS fan, so feel free to follow the site in your reader and don't forget to come back and comment if you see something you like! :-)