February 15, 2022 | Last Updated on March 21, 2022 by Patricia Valbrun
Jamaican Escovitch Fish is a recipe worth trying out. It has incredible taste and appearance. Escovitch fish is just a fancy word for a fried fish and vegetable recipe—as well as pushing you out of your comfort zone.
If you want to enter the very tasty and easy-to-make world of Jamaican escovitch fish, here you can read all about the recipe and useful tips for when you start cooking.
Escovitch Fish 101
Escovitch fish is a well-known recipe all around the world, highly acclaimed by the best chefs of the best countries and all the fuss. In essence, escovitch fish it’s just a simple fried fish with pickled sauce with vegetables that you can make in a few minutes.
The Jamaican part of the escovitch fish recipe stands for bringing all the flavor to the table, including scotch bonnet peppers, pimento berries, onions and loads of taste.
Jamaican Escovitch Ingredients
This escovitch fish recipe has very common ingredients you probably already own or can purchase from a local store.
Here’s the complete list of ingredients for the best Jamaican escovitch fish recipe of your life!
- 2-3 fresh fish (red snapper or your preferred type)
- oil (to fry)
- scotch bonnet pepper
- pimento seeds
- yellow, red and green bell pepper
- onion (thinly sliced)
- vinegar
- seasonings - epis (green seasoning), paprika, cumin, alspice, all-purpose seasoning, sugar, salt and pepper.
Feel free to throw in more spices or vegetables if you’d like to, just follow the steps below to make sure you add them in the“correct”moment of the recipe.
Jamaican Escovitch Fish Step By Step Instructions
Here you have the step-by-step instructions to make this delicious Jamaican escovitch fish recipe.
- Rinse your fish and season with all ingredients in recipe box below.
- In a medium/large skillet and oil, and heat over medium, cook fish for 5-7 minutes per side and once they’re ready take them out and set them aside.
- In another skillet, pour a bit of oil, onion, bell pepper, pimento berries, and scotch bonnet pepper and stir-fry until the onion gets a transparent look.
- Once that is ready, add the vinegar and the sugar, you might add salt and pepper too, and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Useful Tips For Making The Best Jamaican Escovitch Recipe
When it comes to cooking fish most people feel intimidated, but this easy Jamaican escovitch is far from making you tremble. But, since I always want you to cook the absolute best recipes and spice up your routine.
I have a few tips that can come in handy when trying out this Jamaican fish recipe.
- Cook the fish first. If this is your first time trying out this recipe, I recommend you to cook the fish first and then move on to the vegetables for two reasons: one, the vegetables take almost no time to cook so you’ll finish the recipe fast, and two, you don’t get stressed about stirring the vegetables and flipping the fish in the hot oil at the same time.
- Use 2 skillets. The “common way” of cooking escovitch fish is to fry them in a skillet and once you’re done with this you drain the oil and use the same skillet for your vegetables. The reason why I don’t like this method is that draining hot oil is kind of dangerous if you are not extremely careful and it’s just a recipe for disaster. Use one skillet for the fish and the other one for your vegetable to ensure an injury-free cooking experience.
- Thinly slice your vegetables. For your vegetables to provide a delicious flavor, thinly slice them instead of cutting big chunks. This is also helpful for when you’re eating so you have bite-sized pieces.
- Dry your fish. After you rinse your fish, dry them with paper towels to avoid the oil from splashing all over the place when you set it in the skillet. This happens due to the water and oil repelling themselves, and if you have a pretty damp fish you risk burning yourself which is never good.
What To Eat With Escovitch Fish Filet
Escovitch filet can be paired with a load of side dishes that I highly recommend you to try out as well. You can pair this Jamaican escovitch fish recipe with:
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Jamaican Escovitch Fish
Ingredients
- 2-3 Red Snapper Filet
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning
- 2 tablespoon jerk season marinate
- ½ cup epis (green seasoning)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon alspice
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- salt and pepper
Escovitch Sauce
- ½ cup onions
- ½ green bell pepper
- ½ red bell pepper
- ½ yellow bell pepper
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 teaspoon pimento seeds
- ¾ cup vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Jamaican Escovitch Fish Instructions
- Rinse your fish and season with epis (green seasoning), all-purpose seasoning, wet jerk marinade, paprika, cumin, alspice, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Grab a medium/large skillet and pour a generous amount of oil, and heat over medium heat. As the oil gets hot, gently add your fish while reserving the marinade. Cook for 5-7 minutes per side and once they’re ready take them out and set them aside. Try to keep them as warm as possible and place them in a food warmer.
How to make Escovitch Sauce
- In another skillet, pour a bit of oil, onion, bell pepper, and scotch bonnet pepper, pimento seeds and stir-fry until the onion gets a transparent look. Once that is ready, add the vinegar and the sugar, you might add salt and pepper too, and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve the fish with a bit of escovitch sauce and vegetables and enjoy your meal! You can pair this recipe with other incredible side dishes or serve this as your main course after your appetizers.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Looking for another chicken recipe? Try this Brown Stew Chicken next!
Marlene says
Like my grandmother use to make it thank you for sharing the recipe