Welcome to Jamaican week!🏝 Kicking off our Caribbean feast with Jerk Fish – pan-fried fish coated with Jamaican jerk seasoning that adds a stack of flavour and makes it crispy. Thin white fish fillets cook in 3 minutes which makes Jerk Fish a super fast dinner!
Every now and then, I like to do a week of recipes for a themed menu. This week, it’s Jamaican week so you can make your very own Caribbean feast at home! Who’s in the mood for some tropical vibes??
🌴 Jamaican menu 🌴
Main – this Jerk Fish
Side salad – Jamaican Slaw
Side – Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas (beans)
Dessert – rum and raisin ice cream without an ice cream maker!
Kicking off Jamaican week with the main – Jerk Fish!
Why you need Jerk Fish in your life
🌴 It’s Jamaican – so it’s cool. (Just ask Dozer, below).
🌴 Big, bold, Caribbean flavours using everyday spices: garlic, onion, thyme, paprika, all spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne.
🌴 It’s fine if you’re missing one or two spices cause there’s so many spices in it anyway.
🌴 Takes 3 minutes on the stove.
Don’t have fish? Use the jerk seasoning on chicken, shrimp/prawns or vegetables. Tips in the recipe.
What goes in jerk seasoning
Here are the spices you need for jerk seasoning. The perfect blend of savoury flavour, a hint of spiciness with the signature touch of sweetness. The smell when it hits the pan is intoxicating!
There’s so many spices in Jerk seasoning, if you’re missing one (or two…) it’s not the end of the world, you’ll still end up with a terrific Jamaican-(ish) spice blend. Here are substitution suggestions:
Garlic powder – more onion powder, and vice versa
Dried thyme – oregano
Brown sugar – 2 tsp caster sugar / superfine sugar
Cayenne pepper – Pure ground chilli, red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or omit if you want not spicy
Smoked paprika – ordinary paprika
Allspice powder – Mixed spice
Cinnamon powder – Try not to leave this out! It adds an irreplaceable special touch.
Nutmeg powder – More cinnamon
Fish for jerk fish
The fish pictured throughout this post is snapper, pictured below, but jerk seasoning will work with any type of fish fillet that’s suitable for pan frying as long as it is a thin fillet no thicker than 1.5 cm / 0/6″ at the thickest point. It needs to be thin so it cooks through within 3 – 4 minutes else the jerk seasoning will burn.
Snapper is a very popular fish here in Australia, beloved for the mild, sweet, delicate flavour, which is not “fishy” at all. The flesh is moderately firm and moist, and fillets are easy to cook evenly because they are flat with an even thickness (as opposed to, say, salmon, when some fillets have a very thick “hump” (the loin) though you can find thin salmon fillets (the tail end).
Don’t have fish? You can the jerk seasoning on chicken, shrimp/prawns or vegetables. Tips in the recipe.
How to make jerk fish
In a nutshell: coat fish in the jerk seasoning then pan fry for 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side. That’s a 3 minute dinner – we need more of these in our life!!!
Jerk seasoning – Mix the jerk seasoning spices in a bowl.
Coat – Spread the jerk seasoning in a tray or plate just large enough to fit the fish fillets. Then coat each piece of fish with the seasoning, pressing to adhere. Shake off excess and put on a plate. Repeat with remaining fish.
Pan fry 3 minutes – Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. As soon as you see the first small wisps of smoke, place 2 fillets in the pan presentation side down. Cook for 2 minutes on the first side until the surface is a deep bronze colour with a reddish tinge (don’t let it burn!), carefully flip then cook the other side for 1 minute.
CHEFFY TIP: How to flip fish properly
Fish is delicate so you have to flip carefully. I used to use a spatula plus a butter knife or my free hand to control the flip so the fish wouldn’t break.
Forget that! Here’s how chefs do it:
Tilt the pan slightly so the oil pools on one side and won’t splatter on you.
Flip the fish with a spatula “uphill” so you have the help of gravity slowing down the flip so the delicate fish will not break.
GAME-CHANGER! (See video at 33 seconds for a demo)
Rest 2 minutes – Transfer the fish to a rack and rest for 2 minutes. It’s best to use a rack to preserve the crispiness of the jerk-crust. If you use a plate, the underside will sweat and compromise the crispiness. Not the end of the world… but a rack is better!
Once rested, transfer the fish to a plate and serve!
Jamaican week sides for Jerk fish!
To serve with your Jerk fish, two fabulous sides! Jamaican Slaw (shockingly delicious) and Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas. And to complete your Jamaican feast, rum and raisin ice cream without an ice cream maker! This is one of those recipes I deem to be something money-can’t-buy because it has real rum flavour that you just won’t get in tubs from the shops.
This is a spread of seriously good food. I hope you enjoy Jamaican week as much as I have creating the recipes!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Jamaican Jerk Fish
Ingredients
Jerk seasoning (Note 1):
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (reduce to 1 1/2 tsp for table salt)
- 3 tsp dried thyme
- 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar , lightly packed (Note 2)
- 2 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (it's spicy! See SPICE NOTE)
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (sub ordinary paprika)
- 1 1/4 tsp allspice powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Fish:
- 4 x 160g/6 oz thin snapper or other white fish fillets , skinless, boneless (up to 1.5cm / 0.6″ thick, Note 3)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Jerk Spice Blend – Mix the Jerk Seasoning spices together in a bowl then spread in a small tray that is just large enough to fit one fish fillet.
- Coat fish – Pat fish dry with a paper towel. Then coat both sides of each fillet with the jerk seasoning, pressing to adhere. Shake off excess, place on a clean plate and coat remaining fish.
- Cook fish – Heat half the oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. When you see small wisps of smoke, place 2 fillets presentation side down and cook for 2 minutes.
- Flip – the spice crust should be a deep bronze colour with a reddish tinge. Cook the other side for 1 minute until the target internal temperature is 55°C/130°F, or the fish flakes easily at the thickest point.
- Rest on a rack for 2 minutes (to preserve crispy spice crust). Then serve! Recipes for pictured Jamaican sides coming on Tuesday – stay tuned!
Recipe Notes:
- Garlic powder – more onion powder, and vice versa
- Dried thyme – oregano
- Brown sugar – 1 3/4 tsp caster sugar / superfine sugar
- Cayenne pepper – Pure ground chilli, red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or omit if you want not spicy
- Smoked paprika – ordinary paprika
- Allspice powder – Mixed spice
- Cinnamon powder – Try not to leave this out! It adds an irreplaceable special touch.
- Nutmeg powder – More cinnamon
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Jamaican Dozer. Ya mon!
PS It’s totally photoshopped. Just couldn’t find a Jamaican dog costume, strangely. 😂
Oops! Forgot to rate… 5 stars!
Tried this out with some cod. Delicious! My 13 year old is trying new things these days and he loves it. Not too spicy even for him – so if you like spice, I’d suggest upping the cayenne.
We found this way too salty unfortunately! Used 3 basa fillets and only used about half the spice mix. I reduced the cayenne to 1/2 teaspoon as my partner is not a huge fan of spice. The flavours were amazing but just way too salty.
I made this last night! And oh boy was it delicious. Definitely a winner for my family.
Easy to make and delicious. The whole family loved it!
This fish is amazing I would add slightly less cayenne next time maybe 1/2-1 tsp only but the really stand out was having it today on a milk bun burger charred in the pan – add shredded cos, finely sliced tomatoes, diced onion, sour cream, slice of cheese & ketchup – next level yum – this way also the spice was bearable for me ! Thanks Nagi wonderful Sunday lunch. I’ve also bought the pineapple & cabbage from the mona vale organic market to make the Jamaican slaw tonight as I have heaps of peas & rice left – gonna try jerk chicken next yummy!
I made the slaw (yum!), jerk fish (yum, yum!), and beans and rice (erm….). I didn’t have white rice and substituted brown rice without increasing the water enough. My mistake, but can be easily corrected the next time I make these fabulous recipes!! Thank you, Nagi.
Just finished having my second serving of the fish tonight. Learnt 2 things after the first. You do need a high heat and use plenty of the spices. For someone like me I love the kick this has. Used inexpensive Basa fillets.
Brilliant but we used just one teaspoon of cayenne. Are you sure 2.5 teaspoons is correct? We love our spice but I suspect that 2.5 will blow your head off!
I used the recommended amount and yes it has a great kick. Had mine with a cool coleslaw and some chips 🙂 A well chilled white wine goes well.
Thank you for this recipe! It was delicious!
A bit disturbed over the fact that some of your recipes have been coming in in the wrong order. I clicked on the Rum/Raisin ice cream and the Jamaican Jerk Fish recipe came up.
dont click the “get recipe” tab under the pictures….scroll down to where it says “its Jamaican week”. ice cream is under the slaw recipe
Loved the clear details
Where is the icecream recipe?
Great recipe so versatile..thanks Nagi
Cooked chicken breast last night Nagi using your jerk seasoning. It was outstanding and I’m now doing it on Australia Day for my neighbours who are coming to our backyard. Will make jerk drum sticks that day. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks Nagi.
I died and went to fish heaven. Was concerned about the amount of cayenne but took the plunge and WOW, so glad I did!! It packs a bit of spice but it’s balanced by all the other spices. LOVE LOVE LOVE
Hi Nagi
Followed it to the letter, i found the spice mix was a tad too hot and was let down by the fish i used.
Blue Grenadier…it wasnt very nice at all..have some spice coating left so will try with chicken thigh fillets
Hi Deb
Yes Blue Grenadier is a rubbish fish lives in cold deep waters and is a slimy looking thing some restaurants use it for fish and chips. I always ask and won’t eat Blue Grenadier or Basa another rubbish fish
Friends Spencer and Laurie invited me for dinner last night… ‘Tuesday is Fish Night’ and I’m doing Jamaican Snapper’ he said! Our visiting Spanish friend Candi, will be there too!
Sounds great I said and agreed to meet at theirs at 5.30pm. I had just finished reading Nagi’s recipe for such a dish and on arrival, asked Spence if he was using that recipe!
‘You bet’… was his excited answer!
Well Nagi… you’ve done it again! Spence followed your recipe to a Tee with just one adjustment… he used three quarters of a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper and the four of us judged the result as ‘just right’ for our palettes.
I watched him flip the fish with all the care you had mentioned and after resting, he served it on a bed of rice and a side of mixed steamed vegetables.
It was ‘Yum Deliscious’. Thanks Nagi, for the recipe and your high standards of publishing. Oh… we all agreed it should make an appearance in your Next Book. Just saying! 😊😊😊
I agree!
Reduce the Cayenne!
It overpowered the fish
😮💨😮💨😊
I always follow recipes at least the first cook. I love heat, but the cayenne was waaaay too much to the point of inedible. Binned I’m afraid.
I’m a serious cook of 45 years and I love your work, Nagi, but there ARE some misses, which I won’t list in interests of brevity unless asked. Sorry not to be part of the love bandwagon… and appreciate that I’ve no experience recipe writing. Many excellent successes. You’re a fabulous find’ and wish every success.
This looks delicious I am planning make it