When I was growing up, we would eat this for breakfast with fried dumplings. I can remember opening my bedroom door on a weekend morning, smelling it cooking on the stove and rushing to the kitchen to see if it was time to eat. It wasn’t until my adult years that I started making it as a side dish with dinner.
If you have never had it before, salted codfish (or “saltfish” or “bacalao”) is dried, salted codfish that must be re-hydrated and the outer layer of salt removed by boiling or soaking hot water. Once you’ve done so, the texture is like slightly firmer tuna and it gives everything a nutty, salty flavor. It’s eaten all over the Caribbean and Latin America in a variety of ways. Another of my favorites is Jamaican saltfish fritters! Still trying to find a way to make a low carb version of that, but until then, this is how I get my saltfish fix!
- ½ lb Salted Codfish
- ½ onion, sliced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, de-seeded and minced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 stalks of scallion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 16-oz bags of frozen spinach
- 2 tbsp butter
- Boil the codfish for 20 minutes to remove some of the salt. Rinse in cool water and shred.
- Prepare the onion, pepper, tomato, scallion and garlic.
- Add oil to a large skillet and sauté the tomato mixture on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add spinach, butter, and shredded fish to the skillet.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid in the pan.
- Season to taste, but watch the salt content.
Gather up:
- ½ lb Salted Codfish
- ½ onion, sliced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, de-seeded and minced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 stalks of scallion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 16-oz bags of frozen spinach
- 2 tbsp butter
This is what salted codfish looks like.
You can see from the package that these chunks of fish are preserved in a thick layer of salt and have been de-boned. If yours haven’t already been de-boned, you will need to do that after they are boiled. The texture of it at this stage is like a flat piece of beef jerky.
Boil the codfish for 20 minutes to remove some of the salt. Rinse in cool water and shred.
Prepare the onion, pepper, tomato, scallion and garlic.
Add oil to a large skillet and sauté the tomato mixture on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add spinach, butter, and shredded fish to the skillet.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid in the pan.
Season to taste, but watch the salt content. The fish seasons everything in the skillet with a bit of salt, so you don’t want to mindlessly add too much additional salt.
I served this with curry jerk chicken* and a low-carb wrap.
*Super easy! Put 1 pack of chicken thighs, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3 tbsp curry powder, 1 tbsp reduced-sugar ketchup, 1 tbsp Goya Adobo seasoning powder, ¼ cup water, and 2 tbsp jerk seasoning into the slow cooker on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Oh my gosh, so so so good!!!
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