Almost twenty-five. That’s how many years have passed since my hubby and I boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Florida and headed to the Bahamas for our honeymoon. We’ve taken a lot of trips since that cruise, but our time in the Bahamas will always be remembered as a special time.
For starters, we visited the cruise line’s own CocoCay island, where we saw the clearest water at a beach that I’d ever seen. When the ship stopped at Providence Island, my hubby and I went on a group tour with several other passengers and did some sightseeing around Nassau, the country’s largest city and its capital. Our tour guide also drove us across a bridge to Paradise Island so we could explore the resort that is now known as Atlantis Paradise Island prior to it becoming the expansive vacation destination it is today.
While we returned from that trip with some great memories, we’ve always felt it was too short. In fact, we’d like to visit the Bahamas again one day so we can try to do things we weren’t able to do years ago. For example, I like botanical gardens, so I’d like to visit a few of those in a follow-up trip. My hubby and I are both fans of cultural sites and museums, so it would also be great if we had time to explore a few of those, as well.
I also would like to eat more cultural dishes the next time we’re in the Bahamas, particularly if they contain such Bahamian culinary staples as fish and potatoes. Our family likes these two foods so much they’re written on practically every grocery store shopping list I make. This why I was excited to discover recently that both foods are included in Bahamian Boiled Fish and I set out to make my own version of the dish.
I’d read that boiled fish is a popular meal on Sundays, as well as on Christmas and Easter, and that it’s often served at large family gatherings. But, after making this delicious allspice-seasoned dish recently, I know I wouldn’t want to wait until a special occasion to make it! And, with the recipe hacks that I used, it will be easy enough to make any day of the year, even if it’s a busy one. Keep reading to see my list of ingredients and directions on how I made my version. If you’re on Pinterest, be sure to save the pin below the recipe to your board using the pin I created so you’ll have easy access to it when you’re ready to cook.
FYI, the ingredients’ list includes a few links that will make it possible for you to order a few of them online if you’d like to do that. Remember that, if you make a qualifying purchase using one of the links, I will earn a small commission that will help me continue to share recipes like this on my blog.
What You’ll Need To Make 20-Minute Bahamian Boiled Fish (Six servings)
*3 Cups of Water
*4 Medium-Sized Potatoes, cleaned, peeled and cut into cubes (approximately 1 inch in size)
*2 10-Ounce Bags of Mirepoix (See substitutions in the recipe notes.)
*1 Tablespoon of Allspice
*1 Teaspoon of Ground Thyme
*1.5 Teaspoons of Dried Pepper Flakes
*1 Teaspoon of Salt
*1 Teaspoon of Pepper
*3 Tablespoons of Butter
*1.5 Pounds of Cod–I bought skinless cod filets and cut them into into large, nugget-sized pieces.
How to Make 20-Minute Bahamian Boiled Fish
1. Turn burner under a deep pan to high heat and pour into the pan three cups of water. Then add potatoes and mirepoix.
2. Add allspice, ground thyme, dried pepper flakes, salt, pepper and butter. Stir all ingredients together.
3. Add cod to pan and stir. Bring the dish to a boil. Then, cover pan and cook on high for approximately 10-12 minutes.
4. The dish will be ready to serve when the potatoes are tender and the fish easily flakes into smaller pieces. If this does not happen after 10-12 minutes of cooking time, re-cover the pan and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Use a ladle or large spoon to fill individual bowls or high-sided plates with the dish and enjoy!
Possible Substitutions and Notes:
1. If you can’t find mirepoix at a grocery store in your area or online, you can use the following three ingredients instead of the mirepoix: 1 cup of diced onion, 3/4 cup of diced carrots, and 3/4 cup of diced celery.
2. Most recipes for boiled fish that I’ve come across list grouper as the fish of choice. But, I haven’t seen grouper for sale when shopping for fish lately. So, I opted to buy a different kind of fish and you can, too. Just be sure that the fish is categorized as being “white-fleshed” and “meaty” (as grouper and cod are) and it should work for this recipe.
3. I’ve noticed that grits are sometimes served with Bahamian boiled fish, so I plan on making some the next time I prepare this dish. And, since we always have Quaker 5-Minute Quick Grits on hand, it will be easy to prepare a few servings of grits in a small saucepan while the fish is cooking on the other side of the stove.
