You Won't Believe How Flavorful This Authentic Caribbean Fish Stew Recipe Is

Let me share with you how to make this delicious stewed fish. Now let's get started. The first thing I'm going to do is to season my fish which I've washed and cleaned. I like to soak mine in lime juice, water and salt for about 10 minutes. I drained it and patted it dry then I seasoned it with green seasoning, fish or purple seasoning, salt and black pepper. For those who are not familiar with green seasoning, it's a blend of herbs that we use in the Caribbean to season I'm just going to add a list of all the herbs that I use in my green seasoning to season the fish. And as you can see I'm making sure to rub the fish all about so it's nicely coated with that seasoning and I'm going to let this sit for at least an hour or two. Now the next step is optional but when I make fish stew I prefer to fry my fish first. So I dredge it in flour and shake off any excess. If you're looking to make a healthier version and skip the frying, you absolutely can simply add the fish directly into the sauce which I'm going to show you how to make later. But I personally prefer to fry the fish and I do like the fact that the flour does thicken the stew. Now once the fish has been coated it's time to get frying and I'm as you can see it bubbled up that means the oil is hot and it's ready. I'm just simply going to add the fish just a few at a time because you don't want to crowd it. You want to make sure the fish gets to fry nice and crispy. And this is what you're looking for. You're looking for a nice golden brown crust. Once it looks like this it's time to flip it on the other side. Let that side fry as well. And this should take just a few minutes because fish cooks relatively quickly and as you can see we are frying with high heat. Once it's golden brown on both sides I'm just going to remove the fish from the oil. Be sure to drain any excess oil and I'm just going to place it here in a strainer just so that the oil any excess oil is on the fish can simply drain into that container below. Repeat the process until you've fried all of the fish. And this is a super easy weeknight meal. It's a different way to make fish if you are cooking whole fish and I've used pergi but you can use snapper, you can use tilapia, you can use fillets instead of whole fish like I have. Now that all of the fish is fried I'm just going to set that aside and get started on the sauce. And I'm making a tomato based sauce for the fish. The acidity from the tomato goes really really well with fish. I've added some oil to the pan then I'm going to add diced onions, celery, and scallion. And I'm just going to give this a little stir and let this cook for about three to five minutes just until the onions begin to sweat and become translucent. For the base of the sauce I'm using a combination of ketchup and I'm also using tomato paste. You can also use tomato sauce or even fresh tomatoes but if you do use fresh tomatoes I would also suggest adding the tomato paste. I'm going to give this a good stir and let this cook for about three to five minutes before adding water. Then I'm going to give this a good stir because you want to break up all of the tomato paste or any lumps that it's in there. You want to incorporate it into that liquid and then I'm going season it and essentially I'm repeating the same seasonings. I'm using the fish all-purpose seasoning, the green seasoning, but this time I'm adding some chicken bouillon to give it even more flavor. And I'm also adding salt and just a light drizzle of cassareep. If you don't have cassareep you can use browning instead. Now give it all a stir and then bring this to a boil and I'm just going to let this simmer until the sauce thickens. I'll let this cook for about 10 minutes or so on a medium to medium low setting before adding the fish. And it's important to use a pan that's wide enough that you can nestle all of the fish into one layer because you do want the fish to be in that sauce and you don't want too much sauce because once you add the fish you only want it cook for about another 10 to 15 minutes or so so that the fish does not break apart. And I'm adding just a little bit more liquid. I'm going to bring this to a boil and then allow the fish to simmer. And I'm just going to pour a little bit of that sauce over the fish fillets because I want to make sure that it is completely submerged and encased in that delicious tomato sauce. For even more flavor I'm going to add a few sprigs of thyme. I'm also going to add a bay leaf. Then I'm going to cover this and allow this to simmer. Once it simmers for about 10 to 15 minutes or so remove the cover and look at that. Look at how nice and thick the sauce has become and as you can see the fish is just covered in that delicious sauce. To finish it off I topped it with scallion and removed it from the heat and it's time to serve. To add a little veggie component to the dish I made some steamed carrots and cabbage and I served this over rice. And you guys you won't believe how much flavor this has. You can taste all of that seasoning plus the time you took to season the fish before frying. You can obviously tell. Thank you for joining me. I do hope that you give this recipe a try. Be sure to check out my blog gnkcook.com. Leave a comment below if you have enjoyed this video and I will see you guys in the next one.